Kerala graduates rush for jobs at South Korean onion farms

The last of the four seminars, held in Kochi on Friday, drew hundreds of aspirants seeking jobs that offer a monthly salary between Rs 74,900 and Rs 112,300

Aspirants for jobs in South Korean onion farms attend a pre-recruitment orientation seminar at the Ernakulam Town Hall in Kochi on Friday.: Picture courtesy: ODEPC

K.M. Rakesh   |  TT  |  Bangalore   |  01.11.21: Techies and management graduates are among applicants for jobs at onion farms in South Korea, for which a Kerala government recruiting agency has been conducting pre-recruitment orientation seminars over the past few weeks.

The last of the four seminars, held in Kochi on Friday, drew hundreds of aspirants seeking jobs that offer a monthly salary between $1,000 (Rs 74,900) and $1,500 (Rs 112,300).

Although the job description says it’s for men and women who have cleared Class X and have farming skills, many applicants have higher qualifications.

Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants Ltd, a state government undertaking that facilitates recruitment for foreign employers seeking workers from Kerala, had advertised on its website openings at two South Korean onion farms.

The farms had contacted the agency two months ago.

“We received some 5,000 applications for the 100 vacancies, which sent our system crashing,” ODEPC managing director Anoop K.A. told The Telegraph on Saturday.

“As is our practice, we then invited them to orientation seminars — we held two each in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi — where a total of about 1,000 aspirants turned up.”

The two onion farms are located on the Korean islands of Sinan and Muan. Initially, a year’s job contracts will be offered. This can later be extended by another three years. The agency has verified the genuineness of the employers through the Indian and South Korean missions in Seoul and New Delhi.

India’s first government agency for overseas recruitment, ODEPC has helped foreign employers hire more than 10,000 workers from Kerala since 1977. NORKA-Roots is the second Kerala government agency that offers similar services.

The applicants will now be interviewed online by the employers before the successful candidates are sent job contracts.

“There are three categories of applicants, 90 per cent of whom are already employed,” Anoop said.

“While one small segment has experience of farming, another group wants to spend at least a year in Korea and learn modern farming techniques before returning to Kerala to implement them.”

He added: “The third category are mainly techies and management graduates who see this as a launch pad for jobs in Korea suited to their qualifications. Since getting a South Korean employment visa is not easy, the educated applicants want to travel to the country, learn the Korean language and look for jobs.”

On Friday, many who had been unable to apply online after the ODEPC site crashed just walked in at the Kochi seminar.

A 32-year-old MBA graduate, Kiran KS, who had lost his job during the first wave of the pandemic, was quoted in The New Indian Express as saying: “I have no prior experience in agriculture. But I am desperate for a job with a decent salary. I am ready to toil abroad for that.”

ODEPC’s orientation seminars are meant to acquaint the applicants with the work culture, lifestyle, cost of living, climatic conditions and food they would encounter in the host country.

“We brief the applicants about all aspects of life in the host country. For example, most Korean dishes contain pork and beef. Knowing this, the applicants can decide whether to go ahead,” Anoop said.