SK job seekers benefit from SMS

Rasika SOMARATHNA

Youths who apply for jobs in South Korea can receive details of employment confirmation via a text message (SMS) on mobile phones.

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment signed an agreement with Sri Lanka Telecom-Mobitel in this regard recently. SLBFE chairman Amal Senalankadikara said the Bureau will send the applicants details through an SMS as soon as it receives the job agreement.

The SLBFE will also use the text message service to convey information on visas to job applicants. The move will avoid delays and ensure transparency in related transactions, according to the SLBFE.

The SLBFE will enhance the method to include the relaying of other important information via SMSs to foreign job seekers. Jobs in South Korea are popular among foreign job aspirants due to higher wages and better employment conditions. In 2011, 9,999 applicants passed the Korean Language proficiency test. About 2,460 have left for jobs in South Korea this year.

Another 8,473 are in the waiting list. More than 25,000 Sri Lankans are employed in South Korea with the annual outflow exceeding 4,000.