Quality foreign workforce now indispensable for growth momentum 양질의 외국인 인력

[김우정]

우리나라의 성장을 위해서 양질의 외국인력이 필요하다는 맥킨지 코리아의 리차드 리 수석파트너의 기고입니다.

팬데믹기간중 배포된 모더나와 화이자 백신의 개발자가 아르메니아와 투루키에 이민자였다고 합니다.

이민자는 한국 산업계의 고질적인 장애물인 다양성 부족을 해결해줄 대안입니다.

우리나라 100대기업의 외국인 임원비율은 1.4%, 삼성전자를 빼면 1% 이하입니다.

디지털노마드 비자를 도입하여 외국인 고급인력을 유치하는 일본을 벤치마킹해야 하겠습니다. 

Quality foreign workforce now indispensable for growth momentum
현재 성장 모멘텀에 필수 불가결한 양질의 외국인 인력

Editor’s note
This article is the third in a three-part contribution on the "Korea discount" and McKinsey Korea's take on how to resolve it. – ED
편집자주
이 기사는 '코리아 디스카운트'와 이를 해결하는 방법에 대한 맥킨지 코리아의 견해에 대한 3부의 기고중 세번째이다.

By Richard Lee 리차드 리
Richard Lee is a senior partner at the McKinsey Korea office. His area of expertise includes high technology, media and telecoms and private equity practices in Seoul.
리처드 리는 맥킨지 코리아 지사의 수석 파트너다. 그의 전문 분야는 첨단 기술, 미디어 및 통신 및 서울의 사모펀드사업 등이다.

Posted : 2024-05-18 11:19 Updated : 2024-05-18 14:43
Korea Times

 

Richard Lee, senior partner at McKinsey Korea / Courtesy of McKinsey Korea 리차드 리, 맥킨지 코리아 수석 파트너 / 맥킨지 코리아 제공

 Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, two commonly deployed vaccines proved out to be effective against the virus –Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech. What these two different substances had in common, besides medical efficacy, was that both had been developed by immigrants.
코로나19 팬데믹 기간 동안, 일반적으로 배포되는 두 가지 백신, 즉 모더나와 화이자/바이오엔테크는 바이러스에 효과가 있는 것으로 입증되었다. 의학적 효능 외에도 이 두 가지 다른 물질의 공통점은 두 가지 모두 이민자들에 의해 개발되었다는 것이다.

Founding Moderna was Noubar Afeyan from Armenia, who started the company in the United States in 2010. BioNTech, which collaborated with Pfizer in the vaccine's development, was founded by the husband-and-wife team of Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci, both Turkish immigrants from Germany.
2010년 미국에서 모더나를 창업한 아르메니아 출신의 누바르 아페얀이 모더나를 창업했다. 화이자와 공동으로 백신 개발에 참여한 바이오엔테크는 독일에서 온 터키계 이민자 우구르 사힌과 외즐렘 튀레치 부부 팀이 설립했다.

The influx of immigrants is often seen as triggering social, political and economic tension but in fact, contributes to the corresponding country’s human resource innovation.
이민자의 유입은 종종 사회적, 정치적, 경제적 긴장을 유발하는 것으로 여겨지지만, 사실은 해당 국가의 인적자원 혁신에 기여한다.

This is all the more significant for Korea, given its relatively limited population and stalled growth momentum, as well as its chronic market undervaluation – dubbed the “Korea discount,” or K-discount.
이것은 한국에게 있어서 상대적으로 제한된 인구와 정체된 성장 모멘텀 그리고 만성적인 시장 저평가인 '코리아 디스카운트' 즉 K-디스카운트를 고려할 때 더욱 중요하다.

The lack of diversity in governance – not only in terms of nationality but also in terms of gender, age and social backgrounds – has always been deemed a chronic roadblock for Korea’s industrial circles.
국적뿐만 아니라 성별, 연령, 사회적 배경 등 거버넌스의 다양성 부족은 항상 한국 산업계의 고질적인 장애물로 여겨져 왔다.

Korea’s inflow rate of foreign labor with higher education qualifications stood at 2.8 percent as of 2022, ranking 33rd among OECD member states – outrunning only Chile, Columbia, Mexico and Turkey.
2022년 기준 한국의 고학력 외국인 노동력 유입률은 2.8%로 경제협력개발기구 (OECD) 회원국 중 33위로 칠레, 콜롬비아, 멕시코, 튀르키예만 앞섰다.

Also, its total number of skilled professionals remained more or less unchanged during the 10 years from 2012 to 2022, marking a contrast with peer economies including neighboring Japan.
또한 2012년부터 2022년까지 10년간 전체 숙련자 수는 거의 변동이 없어 이웃 일본을 포함한 비교대상 경제와 대조를 이루었다.

During the same period, Japan saw its professional foreign workforce almost quadruple on the back of overseas recruitment policies such as the Industrial Revitalization Strategy.
같은 기간 일본은 산업 활성화 전략 등 해외 채용 정책에 힘입어 전문 외국인 인력이 4배 가까이 증가했다.

While continuing efforts to attract foreign workers in areas such as hospitality, food services and small-and-medium enterprises, Korea’s policymakers should extend such efforts to leading advanced industries such as software, semiconductors and bio.
접객업, 외식, 중소기업 등의 분야에서 외국인 근로자를 유치하는 노력을 지속하는 한편, 한국의 정책 입안자들은 이러한 노력을 소프트웨어, 반도체, 바이오 등의 선도적인 선진 산업으로 확대해야 한다.

 
Adding further to the lack of a quality workforce and diversity here is the very low proportion of non-Koreans in corporate decision-making bodies. The number of foreign executives in the country’s top 100 companies stood at 1.4 percent as of 2018, with the figure dropping further to below 1 percent when excluding the top player Samsung Electronics.
여기에 질 좋은 인력과 다양성의 결여를 더욱 가중시키는 것은 기업 의사 결정기구에서 비한국인의 비율이 매우 낮다는 점이다. 2018년 현재 우리나라 100대 기업의 외국인 임원 수는 1.4%로 최고 기업인 삼성전자를 제외하면 그 수치는 1% 아래로 더 떨어졌다.

Japan, on the other hand, recently vowed to double the count of foreign professionals working under a business manager visa, aiming for an increase from 95,000 in 2019 to around 200,000 in 2030. Many of the notable businesses such as Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Trend Micro are already led by non-Japanese chief executive officers.
반면, 일본은 최근 비즈니스 매니저 비자로 일하는 외국인 전문가 수를 2019년 9만 5천 명에서 2030년 약 20만 명으로 두 배로 늘리겠다고 공언했다. 다케다 제약이나 트렌드 마이크로 같은 주목할 만한 기업들은 이미 외국인 최고경영자들이 이끌고 있다.

Once the foreign talent pool is diversified beyond Korean nationals, Korea should then move on to cultivating a richer startup ecosystem.
외국인 인재풀이 내국인을 넘어 다양화되면 한국은 더 풍부한 스타트업 생태계를 육성하는 방향으로 나아가야 한다.

The D-8-4 startup visa program has been active for over 10 years but the yearly volume of issuances has remained below 50, with only 111 individuals actively qualifying as of 2022 – a figure translating into some 0.3 percent of all startups in Korea.
D-8-4 스타트업 비자 프로그램은 10년 넘게 운영되고 있지만 연간 발급 건수는 50건 미만으로 2022년 기준 111명만이 적극적으로 자격을 취득해 국내 전체 스타트업의 0.3% 수준이다.

Meanwhile, Japan recently introduced a digital nomad visa starting this year, allowing remote workers to work anywhere in Japan for up to six months. This new system quickly gained popularity among young professionals around the globe, especially as the yen's deval‎uation allowed for low-cost living for expats. In step with such trends, Mitsubishi Real Estate announced a plan to add 10,000 rental homes by 2030 for foreign nationals.
한편, 일본은 최근 올해부터 디지털 노마드 비자를 도입하여, 원격 근무자들이 일본 어디에서나 최대 6개월 동안 일할 수 있도록 허용했다. 이 새로운 시스템은 특히 엔화 가치 하락으로 국외 거주자들의 저렴한 생활이 가능해짐에 따라 전 세계의 젊은 전문직 종사자들 사이에서 빠르게 인기를 얻었다. 그러한 추세에 발맞춰, 미쓰비시 부동산은 외국인들을 위해 2030년까지 10,000채의 임대 주택을 추가하는 계획을 발표했다.

In an era of uncertainties, one of the most effective ways to break free from conventional practices and attain innovation is to increase diversity. Standing at the current crossroads for growth, Korea should place priority on expanding its talent base and embrace a wider audience.
불확실성의 시대에 전통적 관행에서 벗어나 혁신을 이룰 수 있는 가장 효과적인 방법 중 하나는 다양성을 키우는 것이다. 지금 성장의 기로에 서 있는 한국은 인재 기반 확충에 우선순위를 두고 보다 많은 청중을 포용해야 한다.

#Foreignworkforce외국인인력#Growthmomentum성장모멘텀 #Diversity다양성 #Humanresourceinnovation인적자원혁신#Koreadiscount코리아디스카운트 #Governance거버넌스 #Skilledprofessional숙련된전문가 #Startupecosystem스타트업생태계#Digitalnomadvis디지털노마드비자 #Talentbase인재기반