Eighteen Samsung Group affiliates are launching their regular spring open recruitment. With Chairman Jay Y. Lee publicly expressing his commitment to expanding jobs for young people, and major companies including Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) expected to post record earnings on the semiconductor supercycle, expectations are mounting that the hiring scale will be larger than in previous years.
Samsung said on the 9th, "We plan to proceed with spring recruitment procedures starting on the 10th, continuing our efforts to expand domestic investment while securing outstanding talent and providing young people with quality employment opportunities."
The 18 affiliates participating in the spring open recruitment are Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T (028260.KS), Samsung Biologics (207940.KS), Samsung Bioepis, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Display, Samsung SDI (006400.KS), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (009150.KS), Samsung SDS, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (000810.KS), Samsung Securities (016360.KS), Samsung Asset Management, Samsung Heavy Industries (010140.KS), Samsung E&A (028050.KS), Cheil Worldwide, S-1, Samsung Global Research and Samsung Welstory.
In addition, even as a considerable number of companies reduce new hires amid the fallout from the global economic downturn, Samsung is contributing to employment stability by supplying quality jobs on a large scale. The number of domestic employees at Samsung Electronics, the group's flagship, rose by 16,039, or 14.1%, from 113,485 in 2020 to 129,524 as of the first half of last year. Employees' average annual salary was 130 million won in 2024 and is estimated to have reached about 150 million won last year.
The regular open recruitment will be conducted by accepting applications through Samsung's recruitment website, Samsung Careers, from the 10th to the 17th. After applications are submitted, Samsung will conduct a job aptitude assessment in March and the Samsung Aptitude Test (GSAT) in April, before determining final successful applicants through interviews and health examinations in May. Applicants for software (SW) and design roles will not take the GSAT and will instead be selected through a hands-on SW skills test and a portfolio review, respectively.
The spring open recruitment is drawing even greater attention because it follows Lee's expression of his commitment to leading the creation of jobs for young people at a "Corporate Roundtable to Expand Youth Jobs and Regional Investment" held at the presidential office on the 4th of last month, presided over by President Lee Jae-myung. At the time, Lee said, "Samsung Electronics' operating performance is growing significantly, so we have gained more room to hire this year." Indeed, Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electro-Mechanics are expected to post record earnings on the back of global artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure investment, while profits at Samsung Heavy Industries and Samsung Securities are also rising sharply thanks to improved industry conditions.
Samsung Group last year announced a hiring plan of 60,000 people over five years, or an average of about 12,000 people annually. Given the strong earnings and Lee's public pledge, this year's hiring scale is expected to far exceed 12,000. If Samsung Group, the nation's No. 1 conglomerate, expands its scale of new hires, SK, Hyundai Motor and LG Group are also expected to actively pursue youth hiring, which is anticipated to contribute in part to easing the recent job shortage among young people.
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics has maintained its group open recruitment system for 70 years to minimize the job-search burden on young people. It introduced open recruitment of new employees for the first time among Korean companies in 1957, and is currently the only one among Korea's top four conglomerates to maintain the system. Samsung's open recruitment not only provides young people with quality jobs and stable employment opportunities, but is also regularly conducted in the first and second halves of the year, earning praise from job seekers as a predictable job-search opportunity.
Samsung is also leading efforts to eliminate discrimination in the job market beyond open recruitment. It established open recruitment of female college-graduate employees in 1993, and in 1995 removed educational background from its application requirements, a condition it has maintained since. Furthermore, Samsung continues to innovate its personnel systems so that employees can maximize their abilities and grow into more outstanding talent, through measures such as spreading a horizontal organizational culture by consolidating job grades, abolishing tenure requirements by grade and improving evaluation systems.
