The government plans to ease the requirements for the skilled worker visa in a bid to address the workforce shortage at local companies.

The Ministry of Justice said on Sunday that it will reduce the number of years of work experience in South Korea necessary to apply for the E-7-4 visa by one year to four.

The move came amid criticism that the requirements for the skilled worker visa, introduced in 2017 to meet domestic demand for qualified and stable foreign laborers, were too restrictive to attract employees on shorter-term visas such as the E-9 non-professional visa and the E-10 vessel-crew visa.

In addition, the current restrictions that allow one company to hire up to eight foreigners on the E-7-4 visa will also be eased to allow such workers to amount to 20 to 30 percent of a firm’s domestic workforce.

The ministry is also considering an expansion of E-7-4 hires for this year beyond the five-thousand they initially planned.