Major domestic groups, including Samsung, announced plans on the 18th to expand hiring in quick succession. It came two days after President Lee Jae-myung said on the 16th that efforts by not only the government but also corporations are needed to solve youth employment issues. The presidential office also designated this week as Youth Week ahead of Youth Day on the 20th.
Samsung said that over the next five years it will hire 60,000 new employees and actively pursue fostering future growth businesses and creating jobs for young people. It explained that it will increase hiring in component businesses centered on semiconductors, as well as in the bio industry and artificial intelligence (AI).
Samsung said it will run hiring-linked internship programs in parallel with recruiting technical talent to expand youth employment. It plans to greatly increase the scale of undergraduate internships so young people can build practical skills needed for employment, while actively hiring outstanding talent verified through the internships.
SK Group said it plans to hire about 4,000 new employees in the second half, a scale similar to the first half. To strengthen competitiveness in areas the group is focusing on—AI, semiconductors, and digital transformation (DT)—SK plans to recruit mainly science and engineering talent in Korea and overseas.
Hyundai Motor Group also said it will hire a total of 7,200 new employees this year. Next year, it will consider expanding the scale of youth hiring to 10,000. It also said it will expand its youth internship program, currently run with about 400 people, to about 800 next year and actively hire outstanding talent, thereby increasing opportunities for young people to build job skills.
A Hyundai Motor Group official said, "We plan to continuously strengthen future business competitiveness centered on Korea by creating large-scale domestic employment and to provide opportunities for young people to realize their dreams."
POSCO Group also said it plans to hire 15,000 people over the next five years to expand youth jobs. This year's hiring was finalized at 3,000, an increase of 400 from the initially planned 2,600. POSCO plans to maintain a hiring scale similar to this year after next year as well, focusing on safety, AI, and research and development (R&D).
Hanwha Group will also conduct second-half new hiring at 30 affiliates. The hiring scale is about 3,500, an increase of about 1,400 from the first half. Annual hiring by affiliate is 1,100 at Hanwha Aerospace, 800 at Hanwha Ocean, 550 at Hanwha Systems, 300 at Hanwha Life, 250 at HANWHA GENERAL INSURANCE, and 200 at Hanwha Investment & Securities.
HD Hyundai Group will hire about 1,500 new employees this year. Over the next five years through 2029, it plans to newly hire about 10,000 people across a total of 19 affiliates in the shipbuilding, construction machinery, and energy institutional sectors. In particular, it envisions focusing on securing research and development (R&D) personnel to promote eco-friendly technologies, digital smart solutions, and hydrogen and bio businesses.
An HD Hyundai official said, "As young people are the future and hope of our society, we will create quality jobs and actively join in solving youth unemployment."