More than half of SMEs willing to hire offshore software engineers amid talent shortage

A job fair is held at Coex in southern Seoul on May 22. [YONHAP]

More than half of small and medium-sized enterprises in Korea want to hire software developers from overseas due to talent shortage, a survey showed Sunday.

According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, 75.4 percent of the 187 companies surveyed from June 13-23 said they found it challenging to hire and retain Korean software engineers.

A lack of talent was the biggest challenge they faced at 74.3 percent, and the pay gap between SMEs and large companies was considered the biggest reason for causing such a shortage.

The survey also showed 27.3 percent of the respondents had already hired foreign engineers, while 54.5 percent had plans to recruit them in the future.

India, Vietnam, China and Indonesia were the preferred nationalities among Korean SMEs for offshore engineers, at 36.4 percent, 31 percent, 11.8 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively, who are paid at a lower rate than their Korean peers.

The ministry said it would address the talent shortage issues by nurturing 100,000 software talent by 2027 and actively serving as a bridge connecting SMEs with local and offshore talent.

Yonhap