IT companies get assistance from Indian engineers

Suffering from a shortage of qualified local engineers, Korean firms are increasingly turning to Indians to take up the slack. According to the Ministry of Information and Communication, Indians accounted for more than half of all foreign engineers employed by Korean IT firms from 2002 until the end of September this year. The Korea Information Technology Venture Association said that out of a total of 838 “IT cards” it issued over the period, by far the highest number ― 435 ― was given to Indians. At 94, Vietnamese received the next largest total, followed by Russians with 83. An IT card is a letter of recommendation that the venture association issues to foreign workers with at least five years in the information technology field. Such letters make it much easier to find an employer in Korea. The system was invented in a bid to tackle chronic labor deficiencies in the field. An official from the Information Ministry said, “Indian engineers are globally recognized for their skills in the software sector.” Although just 100 Indian engineers per year come to Korea in search of work, industry experts expect that number to grow rapidly in the next few years. by Seo Ji-eun, Chang Chung-hoon