Concerns are being raised that the phenomenon of foreign workers filling simple labor jobs such as restaurants or construction sites could be repeated in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. The "91% of Chinese-national information and communications managers concentrated at Coupang" trend confirmed through Ministry of Justice data is viewed less as a typical picture across the industry for now, and more as a case showing how far a particular corporations' workforce operation model, driven by expense logic, can expand.
Industry officials cite strict expense efficiency as the reason Chinese developers are concentrated at Coupang. Lee Hee-jo, a Korea University computer engineering professor and former AhnLab chief technology officer (CTO), said, "Even when global IT corporations operate local subsidiaries or research and development (R&D) organizations in China, the biggest reason was that they could run their workforce at much lower expense than U.S. engineers," and explained, "From a corporations' perspective, if you look only at efficiency relative to expense, there is a clear incentive to use Chinese personnel."
Lee said, "These days many foreign students come to study at domestic universities, and the proportion of Chinese students is particularly high in computer engineering," and added, "After studying in Korea, many of them work at domestic corporations to gain experience and later return to their home country to take on jobs related to Korea's industries."
Rising youth unemployment in China and an unstable employment environment in which quitting after age 35 has become common are also cited as factors pushing Chinese developers to come to Korea. Among Chinese developers, Coupang is considered a so-called "dream workplace." That is because they can escape the "996 (9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week)" high-intensity work system prevalent in China's big tech sector, while enjoying high pay by Chinese local standards and a relatively stable work environment. In fact, in Chinese developer communities, Coupang is perceived as a company with short working hours and solid compensation. Because Coupang's service structure is similar to China's e-commerce environment, local veterans can adapt relatively quickly.
However, major domestic platform corporations and game companies such as Naver and Kakao remain cautious about hiring Chinese developers. Regardless of skill or expense issues, they cite high barriers in the form of security risks and user sentiment. An official at a major platform company said, "A development organization is not simple labor; it is in a position to look across a company's data and entire systems," and added, "Entrusting the core of a service to Chinese developers carries a heavy burden for the industry in terms of Data Sovereignty."
Domestic game companies are also known to have extremely limited cases of hiring Chinese nationals in development roles, except for personnel dedicated to China operations. A game industry official said, "Aside from local organizations or personnel dedicated to responding to the Chinese market, there are almost no cases of placing Chinese developers in a domestic headquarters development organization," and added, "Because game development involves deep engagement with server architecture, build systems, and security logic, there is a strong tendency to minimize external risks regardless of nationality."
Still, with pressure to cut expense growing, there are concerns that if a particular corporations' workforce operation model leads to results, the industry's tacit standards maintained so far could be shaken. An IT industry official said, "For now, we are drawing a line for reasons of security and sentiment, but if the Coupang-style model starts to be accepted as a rational choice, the mood could change," and added, "If what still looks like an exception hardens into a standard, changes similar to the sharp rise in the share of foreign workers at restaurants or construction sites could appear in the IT industry."