Foreign Housekeeping Manager Policy

The Korean government plans to expand Seoul’s foreign housekeeping manager pilot project nationwide next year. This project offers a service that employs foreign care workers, referred to as "housekeeping managers," to assist with cleaning, cooking, and childcare in homes. With familial care responsibilities growing increasingly challenging amid longer lifespans and fewer stay-at-home parents, the government aims to make it easier to have children without long career interruptions through this system.

I think this initiative will play a crucial role in enhancing Korea’s global competitiveness and positively changing public perceptions of domestic work in the country. While experts have criticized the foreign housekeeping manager program, the government is trying to resolve very real problems and improve families' lives. However, for this to become a sustainable system within a just and modern society, it is essential to guarantee the rights of these workers. Their welfare should be safeguarded by ensuring fair working hours, wages, and conditions through formal employment contracts.

As the foreign housekeeping managers gain professional and cultural expertise through education and experience, the quality of their services will improve, leading to a reevaluation of domestic work as an important field with social value.

South Korea can move towards becoming a more inclusive and open society by embracing foreign workers and fostering an environment in which people from various cultural backgrounds work together. This initiative can contribute to diversity and inclusion in Korean society and further strengthen its competitiveness in the global market.

In conclusion, the foreign housekeeping manager system can contribute to changing social perceptions of domestic work by highlighting its importance and ensuring that workers are treated fairly. In addition, high-quality services will be available to families at a reasonable cost from professionals who will help South Korea become a more global, inclusive, and prosperous society.

By Choi Seo-hyun, Sophomore, Dept. of Public Administration