Although Korea’s major shipbuilders have accumulated at least three to four years of workload for the next three to four years, the labor shortage in the shipbuilding industry remains a serious problem. To ensure that shipyards have enough manpower and deliver ships to owners on time, the Korean government is working to solve this challenge.
On August 5, Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced that it will establish an Overseas Shipbuilding Training Center in Serang, Indonesia. The center aims to provide Korean language proficiency training and technical training for shipbuilding sites in advance, so that foreign workers can be put to work at shipbuilding sites without further training when they are transported to Korea, and to establish a stable supply channel for excellent workers.
According to the plan, during the first three months, 30 to 40 persons will be trained in welding techniques required by Korean shipbuilders and will obtain welding certificates applicable to the shipbuilding industry; Korean language training and Korean language proficiency tests will be conducted; and a safety education program also will be implemented to prevent safety accidents. During this period, the Indonesian Ministry of Labor will be responsible for recruiting trainees, conducting training, and providing training facilities; the Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Equipment Association will send expert to support.
At the same time, the government plans to promote the Overseas Shipbuilding Training Center to play a greater role by expanding the number of trainers, etc., and plans to expand it to other countries as a pilot project. After consulting with relevant ministries, the government will provide support in processes such as official development assistance (ODA) and simplifying visa issuance procedures.
It is reported that the “Overseas Shipbuilding Training Center” program is based on the “K-Shipbuilding Next Generation Initiative”, a government-participatory cooperation platform proposed by South Korea in March of this year. The program is the result of more than five months of consultation between the Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Equipment Association (KSMEA) and the Indonesian Ministry of Labor.
During the first meeting of the K-Shipbuilding Next Generation Initiative, Korea announced that it will establish a labor supply and demand forecasting system to prevent interruptions in the shipbuilding process due to labor shortages. Korea plans to train 2,000 domestic shipbuilding professionals and production workers annually through the “Training Center for Innovative Talents for the Future of the Shipbuilding Industry” and the “Job Seekers Recruitment Linked Education Program.” On this basis, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), Hanwha Ocean, and Samsung Heavy Industries have jointly decided to pilot the “Overseas Shipbuilding Manpower Cooperative Training Center” this year in order to ensure a system of local training and reintroduction of foreign workers.
On this basis, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), Hanwha Ocean, and Samsung Heavy Industries have jointly decided to pilot the “Overseas Shipbuilding Manpower Cooperative Training Center” this year in order to ensure a system of local training and reintroduction of foreign workers.
The “Training Center for Innovative Talents for the Future of the Shipbuilding Industry” is a human resource training project jointly promoted by the government and shipbuilding companies to solve the problem of long-term shortage of technical talents in the shipbuilding industry.
With a total investment of 6.4 billion won (about $4.66 million), of which 4.8 billion won (about $3.5 million) is government-funded, the center will train about 1,000 in-service shipbuilders and university students majoring in related fields in four future areas, such as artificial intelligence/big data, environmentally friendly ships, autonomous ships, and smart shipyards, according to the actual needs of shipbuilding companies.
At present, the shipbuilding industry has entered a new round of prosperity, South Korean shipbuilding enterprises are through the high value-added ship-based order selection strategy to receive orders, and in this way to improve the industrial structure and business conditions. As of August 2 this year, South Korean shipbuilders accumulated hand-held orders of 39.12 million compensated gross tonnages (CGTs), equivalent to the workload of the next three to four years.
However, the previous slump in the shipbuilding industry, which lasted for many years, has led to a serious loss of labor in the industry, with each shipyard caught in a labor supply and demand dilemma. In 2023, South Korea sent about 16,000 manpower to the shipbuilding industry by improving the visa system and cultivating human resources, but the industry expects the demand for highly qualified foreign skilled workers to continue.