• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.165-173
• /
• 2009

Purpose: In Korea, the number of migrant workers is increasing. However, migrant workers have low job satisfaction due to poor working environment, and insufficient social support. This study aimed to investigate the role of social support for job satisfaction of migrant workers. Method: We have analyzed the survey data of 397 migrant workers collected from free clinic for migrant workers located in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheong-do. Result: When the migrant workers received monetary and emotional supports from supervisors and colleagues, their job satisfaction turned out to be significantly high. The factors that influence job satisfaction of migrant workers are as follows: involvement in manufacturing industry, over 9 hours of daily sleep, monetary and emotional support from supervisors. Their job satisfaction strongly influenced by these factors. Conclusion: Social support will increase job satisfaction of migrant workers and it will subsequently decrease job turnover rate and increase productivity as well as quality of life.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.203-224
• /
• 2022

This study aims to examine the educational needs of migrant farm workers and farmers in Korea. For developing survey instruments, content analysis of migrant workers & employer training programs, in-depth interviews with farmers and expert reviews had been conducted. Therefore, eight parts and twenty nine educational contents for migrant workers, five parts and twenty educational contents for farmers have been constructed. For data analysis, Borich analysis and The Locus for Focus Model were hired to analyze the educational needs assessment. Results showed that migrant workers' educational priorities were 'basic korean for farming, working attitude in farming, safety guidelines and first aid skills for rural life, safe use of pesticides and protective equipment, driving skills, safe use of agricultural machinery, operation & maintenance of agricultural machinery, pest control by crop', and for the farmers' were 'communication with migrant workers, trouble controls with employment, farming guidance, industrial accident cases and countermeasures, preventing disease and promoting mental health of migrant workers'.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.404-413
• /
• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to construct and verify a path model for the influencing factors on occupational stress of Vietnamese migrant workers in Korea. Methods: Participants were 193 Vietnamese migrant workers recruited from Foreign Workers Support Centers. Data were collected by a self-administered survey with copies of a Questionnaire written in Vietnamese. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficients and path analysis using SPSS/WIN 23.0 and Amos 20.0 program. Results: Length of residence, homeland friends' and Korean colleagues'supports, and acculturation have been found to have significant direct effects on occupational stress of Vietnamese migrant workers. Meanwhile, Length of residence, homeland friends', Korean colleagues', and their families' supports showed indirect effects on their occupational stress. What had the greatest direct effect on occupational stress of Vietnamese migrant workers was Korean colleagues' support. Conclusion: For reducing occupational stress of Vietnamese migrant workers, it is necessary to strengthen their Korean colleagues' supports in work places. In addition, community organizations should take strategies to enhance homeland friends' supports and to improve acculturation of Vietnamese migrant workers.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
• /
• v.54 no.1
• /
• pp.1-22
• /
• 2023

With the restriction of foreigners' entry into Korea due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fishery industry faced significant challenges in supplying migrant workers. In response to this, there is growing interest in methods that could facilitate the stable employment of migrant workers. This paper investigates whether the current system used for the employment of migrant workers in the fishery industry, which is highly dependent on them, adequately performs its function of providing a stable and skilled workforce amid the intensified labor shortage resulting from decreasing numbers of households with employment in the fishery and the aging Korean fishermen. To this end, past studies and government documents pertaining to the current system were analyzed, and a survey targeting the owners of offshore fishing boats that employ migrant workers was conducted. A total of 147 owners of fishing boats responded to the survey, and the data of 499 migrant workers employed by them were used for the analysis. The analysis indicated that the migrant fishermen had difficulty in acquiring minimum scores for the change of visa status according to the criteria for the Skilled Worker Points System. Furthermore, distinct differences were found between the characteristics and working conditions of migrant workers employed through the Employment Permit System (EPS) and the Foreign Seamen System. Based on this result, this paper suggests the reorganization of the skilled migrant worker system in the fishery industry and the expansion of the regional specialized visa pilot project.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.13-26
• /
• 2012

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between resilience of migrant workers and their mental health for improving their quality of life and adaptation in Korean society. Methods: Data were collected from March 21 to May 7, 2011. The participants included 488 migrant workers who lived in Busan Metropolitan City or Gyoungnam province. Results: First, heavy working burdens and lack of rests, low wages, poor living environments, low economic status & deficiency of living necessities, hard physical labors, and conflicts with Korean workers had negative effects on mental health. Second, high perceived stress caused by usual 'living difficulties', high 'cutural shock', high feeling of 'social isolation', and high discomfort from 'lack of Korean language proficiency' gave negative effects on migrant worker's mental health. Third, the most important factor on the mental health was the 'cultural shock' among stressors. Even though many stressors existed among migrant workers, these negative effects on mental health were lessened by their high resilience level. Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of migrant workers in Busan, Korea. To improve their mental health, social support including financial supports and educational programs that foster resilience needed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.269-277
• /
• 2013

Purpose: The purposes of the study were to identify level of health literacy and factors influencing health literacy of migrant workers. Methods: Data were collected using a cross sectional correlational design. Participants were 128 migrant workers in Korea. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, ANOVA, Scheff$\acute{e}$ test, and hierarchical multiple regression with the SPSS 18.0 program. Results: The health literacy level of migrant worker was low and they had difficulty in understanding patient education materials and medical forms. Factors influencing health literacy were residential areas (city or rural), education level, length of stay in Korea, and ability to understand spoken Korean. Regression model accounted for 14.2% of the variance in health literacy. Conclusion: Lower levels of health literacy make it difficult for migrant works to visit medical facilities and perform health behaviors appropriately. Therefore, diverse strategies should be developed by nurses to enhance the health literacy level of migrant workers.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.73-107
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study is to shed light on the characteristics of the social relations of migrant workers in the Ansan area and the factors for the construction of those characteristics. The social relations of migrant workers in the Ansan area are affected by the Korean government's policy of EPS, a short-term rotation policy and its ban on the settlement of migrant workers. These workers are likely to form a temporary and bounded social relationship. The bounded social relationship of migrant workers to society is one of the major factors that put them in social poverty. Ethnic communities, support organizations for migrant workers, and local government agencies have assumed the task of helping build the network among migrant workers of various ethnic backgrounds as well as aiding their participation in local social activities. The status of a temporary resident is the prime reason for spatial exclusion and social poverty among migrant workers. To prevent the exacerbation of these phenomena, this study suggests that the government reconsider its short-term work permit policy for less skilled workers.

• SUVANNABHUMI
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.89-110
• /
• 2020

Singapore and Thailand have been rapidly ageing. There has been a growing demand for eldercarers in the home-setting for which migrant domestic workers have filled the role. This paper examines the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Consensus governing women migrant workers entering the eldercare sector. It argues that because the ASEAN Consensus is not legally binding, it only serves to reinforce the sovereignty of states in the treatment of migrant workers instead of member states acting in unison to ensure labour protections for this group; as a result, Singapore and Thailand do not feel the need to step up protections for this group of workers according to national labor laws and hence low-skilled women migrant workers entering the eldercare sector continue to be vulnerable to labour abuses. Thus as with globalization, the ASEAN Economic Community manifests the paradox of borders: that while states are economically interconnected and interdependent, they are simultaneously disconnected and independent from each other.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.261-262
• /
• 2022

Globally, it is estimated that the number of people living outside of their country of origin reached 281 million in 2020. The primary drive of those migrants when migrating voluntarily is work to increase their income and provide for their families left behind in their home countries. Those who migrate immediately seek means of income to sustain themselves through a perilous process as currently evidenced in the war in Ukraine and not too long ago in Syria and Venezuela. Unfortunately, migrant workers are globally known to predominantly be working in "4-D jobs"- dirty, dangerous, and difficult and discriminatory; the fourth D was recently added to acknowledge the discriminatory aspect and other social determinants of health migrant workers face in their host country while exposed to precarious work. Consequently, migrant workers are at considerable risk of work-related illnesses and injury but their health needs are critically overlooked in research and policy. Recognizing the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights "Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment", we cannot consider any human life - thus, the life of migrant workers - as dispensable through a structural discriminatory process that undervalues their occupational safety and health, livelihood and the contribution these workers bring to their host countries. This was seen during the preparation for the upcoming world cup in Qatar where migrant workers were exposed to a multiplicity of serious hazards including deadly heat hazards.

• Industry Promotion Research
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.79-86
• /
• 2021

Due to the change in the demographic structure, the problem of low birth rate and aging population leads to a serious decrease in human resources, and the necessity of introducing foreign workers is increasing. This study believes that the introduction of foreign workforce is the most effective to expand the working-age population in the era of low birthrate and aging, when demographic changes begin in earnest, and to this end, it sought to devise measures to improve the legal system for migrant workers. As a result of this study, first, the legal system for migrant workers should be unified and improved. It is necessary to establish or unify management agencies so that the 「Immigration Control Act」 and the 「Labor Act」 can establish a cooperative relationship. Second, the 「Immigration Control Act」 should be revised to make it easier for migrant workers to find employment. It is necessary to positively review the employment permit system and acquisition of nationality. Third, there should be no equity or discrimination against migrant workers. Under the principle of mutual benefit, employers and migrant workers should not be equally discriminated against. Fourth, the social insurance system must be added to the legal system of migrant workers. Therefore, the legal system should be reorganized so that migrant workers are not discriminated against in various insurance systems including the four major social insurance systems. In conclusion, the problem of low birthrate and aging population has become a serious social problem due to changes in the demographic structure, and the decrease in the possible generation population has reached a level of concern. The importance of migrant workers' employment and work environment is increasing. Nevertheless, related legal and institutional problems still exist, and measures to improve the legal system for migrant workers are needed.