Samsung Group Returns with JY, Accelerates Social Contribution and Job Creation

Support for Small and Medium Enterprises' Productivity Enhancement through Smart Factory Support Projects
Expansion of Youth Support in Talent Development and Self-Reliance Programs
Leading New Employment Creation by Maintaining University Graduate Recruitment

[Asia Economy Reporter Su-yeon Woo] With Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, returning, Samsung Group is expected to focus on national tasks such as social contribution and job creation to keep its promises to the public. In particular, the focus is on supporting youth employment through nurturing future talents and fostering coexistence with local communities by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups.

According to Samsung Electronics' Sustainability Management Report on the 13th, last year Samsung Electronics' social contribution expenditure recorded 500 billion KRW for the second consecutive year. Despite the expanded management uncertainties due to COVID-19 since 2019, the company continuously increased its social contribution spending. Over the nine years from 2012 to last year, the cumulative beneficiaries of Samsung Electronics' social contributions reached an impressive 21.49 million people, and 2,530 SMEs benefited from the smart factory support project over the past five years.

Samsung Group is leading the nurturing of young talents through quality education programs such as the Junior and Youth Software (SW) Academy, Innovation Campus, and Samsung Dream Class. Recently, it has also been putting effort into establishing the ‘Samsung Hope Didimdol’ centers to support the independent living of youth preparing for self-reliance. To support youths taking their first steps into society at age 18 after living in child care facilities, Samsung plans to invest 50 billion KRW by next year to establish 10 centers nationwide.

Additionally, Samsung Group contributes to local communities by strengthening the production competitiveness of small manufacturing companies through the smart factory support project and increasing collaboration opportunities with startups. Recently, expanding the operation of in-house cafeteria service providers to SMEs and mid-sized companies is also interpreted as part of regional coexistence efforts.

Job creation to solve youth employment issues is also one of the challenges facing Samsung Group. Samsung Group is the only one among the four major domestic conglomerates to maintain open recruitment for university graduates and is paying close attention to new employment. Last year, the number of Samsung Electronics' domestic employees was around 100,000, and when expanded to Samsung Group's domestic employment, the number of employees reaches 260,000.

Last year, Samsung Electronics increased the number of employees in the DS (Device Solutions) division to about 60,000, an 8% increase from the previous year, thanks to the semiconductor industry's favorable conditions. The semiconductor workforce grew by more than 8% for the first time since 2017 (10.9%), when the industry was in the middle of a supercycle. Both political and business circles are urging Samsung Group to secure leadership in the global semiconductor war and lay the foundation for sustained employment growth in the future.

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