"Supporting Future SW Talent"... Samsung's 'SSAFY Meetup' Receives Flood of Encouragement

Message Delivery by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Others

On the 26th, at the 'Samsung Youth SW Academy' Seoul Campus in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, during the online 'SSAFY Meetup' event, Jang Woo-seung, Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics Big Data Center (right), is advising trainees on ways to grow into successful developers.
[Photo by Samsung Electronics]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] Samsung Electronics announced on the 27th that it held a trainee exchange event called 'SSAFY Meet up' at the Samsung Youth SW Academy (SSAFY) Seoul Campus in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

SSAFY is a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) program implemented by Samsung as part of the 'Economic Revitalization and Job Creation Plan' announced in August 2018 to expand the domestic IT ecosystem base and enhance youth employment competitiveness. The Meet up event is held twice a year as an occasion for trainees who are nurturing their dreams and hopes as developers to support each other.

About 1,300 trainees from the 5th and 6th cohorts of Samsung Youth SW Academy campuses in Seoul, Daejeon, Gumi, Gwangju, and Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (Busan area) participated in this online event. At the event, trainees heard experiences, know-how, and episodes from senior developers working in the field. Various sectors of society also sent encouraging messages to the trainees, empathizing with SSAFY’s purpose of contributing to youth job creation in the software field.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said via video, "With the rapid development of digital new technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse, the importance of software talent is increasing," adding, "Seoul City will also do its best to support young people preparing for the future."

Kim Du-kwan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, "In the rapidly changing flow of the 4th Industrial Revolution, software talent is more important than anything else," and encouraged, "I hope you complete the training well during the remaining period and become talents who lead our society."

Baek Hye-ryun of the Democratic Party and Jeong Hee-yong of the People Power Party promised, "We will also work hard in the National Assembly so that more young people can utilize such programs and the software field can establish itself as a core growth engine of our country."

Jang Woo-seung, Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics Big Data Center, who gave a lecture at the event, cited three conditions for becoming a successful developer: ‘recognition of the importance of algorithms,’ ‘ability to grasp technology trends,’ and ‘growth into a hybrid complex talent.’ Also, Professor Kim Sang-gyun of Gangwon National University’s Department of Industrial Engineering gave a lecture on what trainees should prepare for during the metaverse civilization transition period.

SSAFY started with 500 trainees in 2019 and selects trainees twice a year. Samsung is recruiting 1,150 trainees for the 7th cohort until November 8. Anyone under 29 years old who is unemployed and a graduate or expected graduate of a four-year university can apply regardless of their major.

Selected trainees complete a one-year intensive training course totaling 1,600 hours, eight hours a day, to become software developers equipped with the capabilities to be immediately deployed to companies. All training courses are free, and every trainee receives a monthly training allowance of 1 million KRW.

Professional consulting and job fairs are conducted simultaneously to provide opportunities linked to employment. As of the first half of this year, about 77% (1,601) of the 2,087 graduates have been employed by 544 domestic and international companies in IT, finance, and other sectors.

Samsung plans to increase the number of SSAFY trainees from the current level of around 1,000 to about 2,300 annually starting next year, in line with the government’s 'Youth Hope ON' project to expand youth employment.

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