The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will expand support for regional small and midsize companies that struggle to hire research personnel.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 3rd it is recruiting small and midsize companies to take part in the "2026 research personnel support program for SMEs."
The SME research personnel support program backs the hiring, dispatch, and training of research personnel needed by small and midsize companies. It is a measure to ease research workforce shortages at SMEs and strengthen their capacity for technological innovation.
When an SME hires research personnel with professional, bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degrees (junior or senior), up to 50% of the personnel costs will be supported for three years. Starting this year, 60% of newly selected personnel will be allocated outside the greater Seoul area, and research personnel who move from the greater Seoul area to non-capital regions will receive preferential support.
To strengthen AI capabilities at SMEs, manufacturing AI SMEs will be eligible for expanded support to hire up to two researchers (one junior, one senior).
The program also supports dispatching professional research personnel from public research institutions to SMEs. Dispatched researchers will handle tasks such as solving technical problems, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will subsidize up to 50% of the dispatched personnel's annual salary for three years.
This year, to meet diverse technological needs of SMEs, the government plans to sequentially expand the existing 11 dispatching research institutions to activate dispatch support. In addition, to cultivate AI specialists, it prepared a plan to implement industry-academia cooperation training for manufacturing AI SMEs and link trained personnel to hiring at those SMEs.
Details on the program can be checked from the 4th on the Ministry of SMEs and Startups website or on the integrated management system for SME technology development projects.
Regional Corporate Policy Director Kwon Sun-jae said, "Securing research personnel with the capabilities needed in the era of digital and AI transition is a very important task for small and midsize companies," adding, "We will help SMEs secure the research personnel they need in a timely manner and support corporations and talent so they can grow together."