Korea's semiconductor market has entered a supercycle. Thanks to the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) services, demand has risen sharply for memory semiconductors such as high bandwidth memory (HBM). The semiconductor hiring market is also showing signs of vigor.
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are not only expanding production facilities to meet the surge in orders but also increasing their workforce. They are proactive in recruiting talent to secure future competitiveness. DB HiTek, a system semiconductor foundry (contract manufacturing) corporations, is also understood to have expanded its hiring scale this year compared with a year earlier.
According to Saramin, the country's largest job search platform, on the 28th, the number of semiconductor job postings increased year over year for two straight quarters recently. Semiconductor postings fell 12.3% in the first quarter of this year, but rose 4.9% and 5.0% in the second and third quarters, respectively. As of the day, the number of job postings registered on Saramin in the semiconductor industry stood at 3,290.
The hiring market, which had frozen along with the semiconductor market, reversed from early last year, when signs of entering a supercycle began to appear. A Saramin official said, "From last year through the third quarter of this year, the number of job postings in the semiconductor industry increased in all periods except the first quarter of this year," and noted, "The decrease in semiconductor job postings early this year appears to have been due to a temporary rise in domestic market uncertainty caused by last year's 'Dec. 23 martial law declaration.'"
◇ Samsung Electronics DS adds 17,000 employees over four years… SK hynix up 4,500
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are cited as leading corporations reinvigorating the semiconductor hiring market. The number of employees in the Device Solutions (DS) division, which handles Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business, was 78,643 as of the end of June this year. That is up about 17,000 from June 2021 (61,683).
At the end of 2023, when the semiconductor market was weak, the DS division's headcount at Samsung Electronics increased by only 675 from the second quarter of the same year, but in June last year it rose by 3,255 from the previous half. In December last year as well, the company continued expanding its workforce, increasing headcount by 1,195 from the previous half.
An industry official said, "Samsung Electronics continued new hiring even during market downturns, supporting Korea's economy," and added, "In particular, I understand the company is actively pursuing talent acquisition by holding campus recruiting sessions at universities at home and abroad more frequently than in previous years and on a larger scale."
SK hynix is also increasing its workforce recently. The company had 33,625 employees as of the end of June, up 4,500 from four years ago. In Dec. 2023 (152) and June last year (93), headcount fell compared with six months earlier. But it increased by 423 at the end of last year and by 1,235 as of the end of June this year.
SK hynix is focusing its hiring to maintain its technology lead centered on HBM. In March, it launched a career hiring information website called "Monthly Hynix Talent" and has been building up R&D-centered talent. The idea is to create a channel that posts new career hiring information every month to increase contact with candidates. Through this month's career hiring, which closed applications on the 17th, the company sought talent for HBM Digital Design positions. As AI services advance into the inference domain, demand for "customer-specific HBM design" is rising, and the hiring is seen as a response.
Separately, SK hynix expanded its on-campus recruiting events this year from the existing five universities (KAIST, Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University, POSTECH) by adding Hanyang University and Sogang University. In May, it also held the "2025 SK Global Forum" in Santa Clara, California, to increase contact with global talent.
DB HiTek also increased its workforce this year. Including career hires, the company plans to recruit a total of 300 people this year. Considering it had 2,197 employees as of the end of June this year, it amounts to large-scale hiring. A DB HiTek official explained, "Even though the number of retirees is down from a year earlier, we plan to expand our workforce by keeping new and career hiring at a similar scale to last year."
◇ Lee Jae-yong and Chey Tae-won speak with one voice on expanding semiconductor "facilities and hiring"
The momentum in the semiconductor hiring market is expected to continue for some time. Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, in a recent meeting with President Lee Jae-myung, pledged massive domestic investment and mentioned expanded hiring.
At a public-private joint meeting on the 16th at the presidential office in Yongsan, held following the U.S.-Korea tariff negotiation follow-up, Lee said, "We will work harder on expanding investment, creating good jobs for young people, and coexistence with small and midsize enterprises and venture companies," stressing that the company will keep the pledge announced in September to "hire 60,000 people in Korea over the next five years."
Right after the meeting, Samsung announced a domestic investment of 450 trillion won over the next five years and said it would push structural work for Line 5 of Pyeongtaek Campus Phase 2. It formally resumed construction, which had been halted for about two years due to the semiconductor downturn and deficit burdens. The production line is slated to start operations in 2028.
Chey also said, "We have consistently maintained more than 8,000 hires every year," adding, "Each time we partially open a semiconductor plant, we continue to add more than 2,000 hires. We expect employment effects of about 14,000 to 20,000 a year."
SK hynix is investing about 600 trillion won to build the Yongin semiconductor cluster, which will house four fabs (production plants). The company is also jointly building with the government a "Trinity Fab" to invigorate Korea's semiconductor materials, equipment and parts ecosystem, with a budget of 860 billion won.