Training and Hiring for Agricultural Machinery Maintenance Personnel Have All Dried Up… Agricultural Machinery Society Points Out 73% of Rental Centers’ Staff Are Non-Regular Workers

The number of agricultural machinery departments at high schools nationwide fell from 80 schools in 1985 to 35 schools in 2025. Over the same period, the number of students decreased by 84% from 24,000 to 3,800. Since the agricultural machinery engineer certificate, the highest-level national technical qualification in the agricultural machinery field, was introduced in 1984, only 68 people have passed the final exam over more than 40 years. By contrast, the number of agricultural machines held by city and county agricultural machinery rental centers nearly doubled from 57,555 units in 2016 to 108,238 units in 2024, and autonomous and electric agricultural machinery is being added starting this year. In other words, machines are increasing and becoming more complex, while the channels for training people to handle and repair them are drying up.

On the 21st, the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery held a special session on the theme of “Measures to Disseminate Field Technologies for Agricultural Machinery and Foster Specialized Personnel” at its fall academic conference, held together with “ISMAB 2026 (the 12th International Symposium on Machinery and Mechatronics for Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering)” at BEXCO Exhibition Center 2 in Busan, and addressed this issue head-on. It was the second special session following the spring academic conference held in Jeju in May, with presentations and discussions by field officials from agricultural technology centers, researchers, high school teachers, and industry representatives. The figures above are from materials presented by speakers that day. Participants unanimously said that education and qualifications to train personnel, hiring to absorb them, and responses to new technologies are all operating separately from one another.
 

 Agricultural machinery certificates with nowhere to learn and nowhere to use them

The first disconnection begins in the education field. Dr. Kang Jin-seok of the Yongin Agricultural Technology Center assessed that among the remaining 35 high schools, only 20 actually teach agricultural machinery. Dr. Kang said, “When I ask students who majored in agricultural machinery whether they will get a job, almost none say they will, and most say they would rather do delivery work,” adding, “It is an extremely serious situation.” He estimated that fewer than 100 people capable of handling agricultural machinery maintenance in the field are produced each year.

The qualification system has also lost vitality. According to presentation materials, the number of final successful applicants for the agricultural machinery maintenance craftsman certificate fell from 2,100 per year in 1990 to about 450 to 500 over the past 10 years. There are 1,495 cumulative holders of the agricultural machinery industrial engineer certificate, and the number of annual successful applicants has been declining after peaking in 2023. For the agricultural machinery engineer certificate, there have been 10 years in which not a single person passed the final exam, and because the number of applicants is small, the written exam has been changed to every other year.

An even bigger problem was identified as the fact that there is nowhere to use the certificate even after obtaining it. Dr. Kang pointed out that when rural development agencies hire extension or research staff, there is no legal basis for specifying agricultural machinery majors or qualification holders. Automobile inspection stations are required to employ certificate holders according to the number of vehicles processed, but there is no such standard for agricultural machinery. He also noted that the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has prepared workforce guidelines for rental centers, but they have no binding force. Dr. Kang said, “When we make a personnel request based on those guidelines, (the department in charge) says that if it were a law they would comply, but guidelines are not mandatory.” Dr. Kang said that even at the rental center where he works, he is the only regular employee responsible for more than 200 pieces of equipment.

Hwang Min-ho, a teacher in the industrial machinery department at Yeongseo High School in Wonju, described the reality students face. He explained that students graduate after earning around five certificates, including agricultural machinery maintenance, forklift, and excavator certificates, but most take jobs at local dealerships at around minimum wage and quit once they resolve their military service issue. Because after-sales service businesses effectively have no qualification requirements, certificates do not translate into employment competitiveness.

Teacher Hwang said that he himself was one of the two people who passed the agricultural machinery engineer exam in 2024, saying, “I got this certificate because I thought it would disappear, but even after getting it, it is of no use.”

There were also repeated complaints that there is nowhere to learn. Dr. Seo Il-hwan of the Ganghwa County Agricultural Technology Center said, “They created the certificate, so why is there nowhere to teach it?” and added, “There is nowhere in Gyeonggi Province, and almost nowhere nationwide that teaches the craftsman certificate.” He said that when he was preparing for the industrial engineer practical exam, there was nowhere to learn, so he bought dinners for acquaintances while learning the skills from them. Teacher Hwang also said that, among ordinary academies, he understands that the only places teaching the agricultural machinery maintenance craftsman certificate are around Anseong and Gyeongju, and that many people looking for places to learn contact the school.

 Non-regular workers make up 73% of rental center personnel… “Even if they come in, they quit within 1 to 2 years”

The second disconnection is the employment structure. Based on a 2023 Rural Development Administration survey showing that 147 cities and counties operate more than 100,000 agricultural machines at about 450 rental business hubs, with annual usage days exceeding 1 million, Dr. Seo Il-hwan defined agricultural machinery after-sales management as “already a large-scale public service.”

However, according to the field workforce composition presented by Dr. Seo, general and professional civil servants account for only 27%, while non-regular personnel reach 73%, with public service workers at 42% and fixed-term and other workers at 31%. Dr. Seo said that even among regular employees, general extension staff unrelated to agricultural machinery work are sometimes assigned, so the actual share of specialized personnel is around 20%.

Dr. Seo said, “The personnel issue is not how many people are lacking, but why they come and do not stay,” adding, “Even if they come in, they quit within 1 to 2 years.” Fixed-term workers cannot be employed for more than 2 years, so they must be let go once they gain skills, and their pay is also low. According to his recent comparison of public hiring notices, monthly converted pay for fixed-term workers was about 2.45 million won in Ganghwa County and 2.38 million won in Namwon City. Dr. Seo asked rhetorically, “If people can get 2 million won just doing odd jobs elsewhere, would someone with technical skills come to work in the fields?” Dr. Seo pointed out that when labor costs rose by about 15% due to allowance payments to improve treatment for fixed-term workers, some local governments reduced staff by that amount instead of increasing the budget.

Lee Young-hwan, chair of the Agricultural Machinery Instructor Subcommittee of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery, who participated in the discussion, said, “In the past year, four people, including public service workers, have changed in our office,” adding, “When people without the required skills come to positions that need technicians, they cannot last 3 months or 6 months and leave.” He continued, “In our public sector, we are the only department where non-regular workers outnumber regular employees,” emphasizing that the organization should be corrected around specialized civil servants along with improved treatment such as technical allowances.

The figures show the same trend. According to a presentation by researcher Lee Jung-min of the Department of Agricultural Engineering at the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, compared with 2016, rental centers increased by 15.9%, owned equipment by 88.1%, and working personnel by 60.9% in 2024. However, in 2024, the minimum staffing fulfillment rate was only 75.3%, and the ratio of regular employees to minimum staffing was 55.2%. Equipment managed per person reaches about 46 units based on the total workforce. According to a survey of 53 civil servants in charge of agricultural machinery conducted in August by Professor Jeong Hae-dong of Korea National University of Agriculture and Fisheries, respondents said staffing shortages lead to “increased dissatisfaction with civil complaint services” (77.4%) and “delays in purchasing rental equipment and parts” (52.8%) (multiple responses allowed). About half of respondents (27 people) had not participated in work-related professional training, and the reason was also a shortage of staff.

Autonomous agricultural machinery is increasing, but 43.4% say sensors and electronic controls are “impossible to maintain”

The third disconnection is emerging between the speed of technological change and field capabilities. Professor Lim Ryu-gap of the Department of Convergence Biosystems Mechanical Engineering at Sunchon National University forecast that the domestic physical AI market will grow from 5.6 trillion won in 2026 to more than 20 trillion won in 2030, and introduced how global companies such as John Deere and Kubota are shifting toward autonomous agricultural work and integrated data services. Professor Lim said, “In the field, retraining is needed not only for existing maintenance and repair but also for autonomous agricultural machinery,” and said that software and security personnel specialized for agricultural machinery must be secured preemptively.

Researcher Lee Jung-min predicted that the workload will increase as priority purchases of AI, autonomous, and electric agricultural machinery have been recommended for rental businesses starting this year. For electric agricultural machinery, charging station installation and safety management must be reviewed, and if autonomous agricultural machinery is introduced, centers must have the ability to inspect electronic controls, sensors, communications, and software in addition to existing engine and hydraulic inspections. Researcher Lee said that since rental business budgets have been transferred to local governments for cities and counties to decide, “it is time to argue why budgets and personnel are necessary.”

The field’s level of preparedness falls short of this. In Professor Jeong’s survey of civil servants in charge, respondents said that for engines, transmissions, and hydraulic systems, 69.8 to 86.8% could perform maintenance independently or with support, but for sensors and electronic controls and electronic diagnostic devices, 43.4% respectively answered that maintenance was “impossible.” Dr. Seo Il-hwan said, “It is right to move from machinery repair-centered work to complex diagnosis-centered work, and retraining is needed,” adding, “But there is nowhere to provide training on new technologies.”

Farmers’ demands were also clear. According to Professor Jeong’s survey of 48 farmers, the most commonly cited reason agricultural machinery is difficult to repair when it breaks down was “shortage of maintenance personnel” (58.3%), and maintenance conditions scored 2.83 out of 5, below average. Farmers who had received repair and maintenance training accounted for 37.5%, but willingness to participate in new maintenance training was high at 81.3%, and among them, 74.4% hoped the training would be operated by agricultural technology centers. In the end, training demand is being directed toward agricultural technology centers that are short on staff.

Yoo Hyuk-ran, director of the Competency Development Division at the Rural Human Resource Development Center of the Rural Development Administration, said, “We have many concerns about how to include advanced agricultural machinery such as autonomous driving in next year’s training,” and announced that the center would conduct a training demand survey to reflect field opinions. Director Yoo said the current standard for specialized personnel, defined as “at least 3 years of experience and a craftsman-level or higher qualification,” does not match what people feel in the field, and asked the society to redefine it.

Proposals for legalizing qualification-based personnel, staffing standards, and pilot projects

The remedies converged on institutional reform. Dr. Kang Jin-seok proposed revising the Smart Agriculture Act and the Agricultural Mechanization Promotion Act to legalize qualification-based workforce standards for public institutions, manufacturers, and after-sales service businesses. He said there are engineer qualifications in horticulture and livestock, but agricultural machinery, which is central to smart agriculture, is excluded, and reported that he had requested that agricultural machinery engineers be included in the smart agriculture manager standards that grant eligibility for exams such as facility horticulture engineer and livestock engineer, but this was not reflected. He also proposed raising the standard for responsible technicians at after-sales service businesses who have no certificate from the current 3 to 5 years of maintenance and repair practice to at least 10 years, and giving preferential treatment to agricultural machinery qualification holders. Dr. Kang also suggested setting a required hiring ratio of qualification holders for manufacturers above a certain size, and having agricultural machinery companies operate contract departments in partnership with universities, as large companies do.

Dr. Seo Il-hwan called for appropriate staffing standards, elimination of allowance discrimination between public service workers and fixed-term workers, and settlement support at the level provided to young farmers. He said, “If it is difficult to expand it nationwide all at once, let’s try it as a pilot project in at least a few cities and counties. If it is evaluated positively, the budget will follow.”

Dr. Yoo Jeong-young of the Hongcheon County Agricultural Technology Center raised the issues of military service and foreign workers. He said that even if third-year high school students are hired on fixed-term contracts and trained for 11 months, they leave for military service, so he requested the Military Manpower Administration to allow them to serve as industrial technical personnel, but this was not accepted because such service is limited to production and manufacturing companies. Dr. Yoo also emphasized, “Although it is elderly farmers who borrow rental agricultural machinery, in many cases foreign seasonal workers are sitting in the driver’s seat,” adding, “Institutional support is needed so that foreign seasonal workers can receive at least minimum agricultural machinery safety training.”

The capacity of the industry was also mentioned as a variable. Ahn Sang-hwa, head of the Policy Support Team at the Korea Agricultural Machinery Industry Cooperative, said that even Korea’s largest agricultural machinery company has less than 1% of the global market share, and assessed that dealerships and maintenance service personnel are weakening together. He said, “We have discussed this issue with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs since about 10 years ago, but continuity in policy has not been achieved as officials in charge have changed.”

Professor Hong Soon-jung of Korea National University of Agriculture and Fisheries, who moderated the session that day, said the society plans to continue this discussion as a research project, organize a development direction, and hold a policy debate at the National Assembly next year to connect difficulties faced by the field and farmers to discussions on institutional improvement. Teacher Hwang Min-ho said, “There must be hiring for education to be maintained, and there must be education for the industry to be maintained,” adding, “If we cannot show students quality jobs and the value of playing a role as one pillar of the industry, this industry will increasingly go downhill.”