Foreign companies in Korea are expected to hire only half the number of new university-graduates in the second half of this year compared to the same period last year, data showed.

Of 72 firms recently surveyed by online job search portal Job Korea, about 20 foreign companies, or 27.8 percent, said that they plan to hire university graduates.

Among the rest, 63.9 percent answered that they have no plans of new employment and 8.3 percent said it is not decided yet. In the same survey conducted earlier this year, 15.2 percent of the companies had said that they will hire new employees in the first half of this year.

The number of new university graduates to be hired by the 20 companies is expected to be about 271, which is a slight increase compared to the first half when 223 were recruited, but a drop by nearly 50 percent compared to 538 in the second half of last year.

The job market will be bigger for high-school graduates as the surveyed foreign firms answered they will hire about 327. The number is still slightly less than that of the first half this year when the companies hired 334.

English-speaking skills was one of the core values the foreign firms said they look for in new employees. Over 40 percent of the companies said that applicants will have to pass an English-language interview.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldcorp.com)