Samsung aims to hire 80,000 new workers over five years
Samsung Group began this year's first large-scale open recruitment, aiming to hire 80,000 new workers over five years starting in 2022, Korea's largest business group said on Sunday.
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| An applicant for Samsung Group's open recruitment attends a pre-examination session before sitting the group's aptitude test called GSAT, at Samsung Human Resources Development Institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, October 2023. Courtesy of Samsung Group. |
The group's 19 subsidiaries, including Samsung Electronics, Samsung Biologics, and Samsung C&T, will start accepting applications from Monday until March 18. Last month, those companies initiated searches for new workers by targeting individuals with job experience and foreign candidates meeting academic eligibility criteria across 90 career sectors.
In contrast to other global big-tech companies downsizing their workforce, Samsung's approach stands out. While Microsoft, Google, and YouTube have collectively laid off thousands of employees, Samsung is actively hiring. This practice aligns with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong's key policy of offering quality job opportunities to aspiring young adults.
From 2018 to 2020, the group recruited more than 40,000 workers. The initiative to recruit women with university degrees began in 1993, and by 1995, Samsung had eliminated degree requirements from its application process altogether.
"Since 1957, when we started open recruitment for the first time among companies in Korea, we've been opting for this practice under the company motto 'talent comes first,'" a group official said.
Samsung has been nurturing talent through educational initiatives and competitions. The Samsung Software Academy for Youth offers free lessons to students in Seoul, Daejeon, Gwangju, Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, and Busan. Additionally, Samsung Dream Class provides middle school students from marginalized backgrounds with complimentary academic resources such as tutoring, classes, and coding lessons.
The group has been sponsoring youth skills competitions in Korea and abroad. In 2006, it signed a partnership with the Ministry of Employment and Labor to jointly nurture aspiring individuals. Starting the following year, it has been sponsoring the country's annual youth skills championships. It also sponsored for eight consecutive years international youth skills olympics starting with WorldSkills Shizuoka 2007.
"Some 1,500 Samsung employees have so far been selected from the national skills competitions in Korea," the official said, adding that Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display and Samsung C&T collectively recruit 100 individuals from the competitions each year.
Lee, in his first public event this year, visited Samsung Research in Seoul and highlighted the importance of skilled workers.
"Skilled workers are the cornerstone of our core competitiveness, and they are indispensable assets," Lee said at the R&D center. "And it's my duty to foster an environment where talented individuals can freely explore challenges and drive innovation."
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