Ministry of Industry Supports 40% of Annual Salary for 54 Research Personnel Hired by Mid-sized Companies

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The government will support up to 40% of the annual salary for research personnel hired by mid-sized companies for up to three years.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 10th that it will open the '2021 Mid-sized Company Core Research Personnel Growth Support Project' on the 11th and recruit participating companies.

This project aims to support mid-sized companies facing shortages of research personnel such as young master's and doctoral graduates and experienced technical professionals, to promote research and development (R&D) and induce job creation. Eligible companies are early-stage mid-sized companies with sales under 300 billion KRW that have R&D dedicated organizations such as corporate research institutes.

If selected as a participating company, up to two newly hired young science and engineering master's or doctoral graduates and experienced technical research personnel can receive support of up to 40% of their contracted annual salary for up to three years. The annual support limit is 16 million KRW for master's degree holders, 20 million KRW for doctoral degree holders, and 28 million KRW for experienced technical personnel.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, since the project was first implemented in 2018, it has supported the hiring of 134 core research personnel at 101 mid-sized companies. This year, with a budget of 1.86 billion KRW, which is 14.4% higher than last year, it plans to newly support 54 people.

In particular, this year, in the selection process of supported companies, preference will be given to mid-sized companies outside the metropolitan area that are expected to be affected by COVID-19 and mid-sized companies applying new businesses such as digital transformation in response to post-COVID-19.

Cheon Younggil, Director of Mid-sized Company Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "We hope that early-stage mid-sized companies secure excellent research personnel to find growth engines and serve as a stepping stone to respond to the transition to the digital economy after COVID-19."

For more details, please refer to the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.