RoK SMEs prioritise hiring Vietnamese, Indian software developers

More than 50% of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the Republic of Korea (RoK) want to hire software developers from overseas, especially those from Vietnam and India, amid a talent shortage.
RoK SMEs prioritise hiring Vietnamese, Indian software developers - Illustrative image (Photo: CMC Global)
RoK SMEs prioritise hiring Vietnamese, Indian software developers - Illustrative image (Photo: CMC Global)

According to the RoK Ministry of SMEs and Startups, 54.5% of the 187 companies surveyed from June 13 to 23 said they are willing to hire foreign software developers in the future.

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

The survey also showed 27.3% of the respondents had already hired foreign engineers.

As many as 75.4% of the companies surveyed said they found it challenging to hire and retain local professional software engineers.

VNA