More foreign workers will be granted entry with the E-9 visa next year amid improving economic indicators, including the growth outlook and job figures. 

The decision was reached during a policy committee meeting Tuesday, setting next year's foreign workforce quota at 59-thousand workers. The figure is seven thousand more than this year.

The number of overseas workers had dropped by some 60-thousand over the past two years amid the pandemic, causing serious labor shortages at small manufacturers and rural villages where foreign manpower is indispensable.

The government will also allow some 40-thousand migrant workers whose visas are due to expire between January and April to extend their employment activities by one more year. 

If there are still not enough foreign workers to meet labor demand after the first quarter, the government will convene another meeting in March to discuss a further extension.

Sectors such as finance, research and development and information and communications, which are not short of labor and where wage levels are relatively high, are excluded from employment extensions.