'Battery Talent, Come to Samsung'... Battery Top 3 Companies' Talent Battle

Samsung SDI Signs Battery Talent Development Agreements with 4 Universities in One Month
LG Energy Solution Leads Industry-Academia Talent Collaboration
SK On Launches Next-Generation Battery Master's Program

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] "The second semiconductor, battery talents, come to Samsung too"

Samsung SDI is intensifying efforts to secure battery talents. With a shortage of battery sector personnel expected to reach up to 3,000, Samsung SDI has joined LG Energy Solution and SK On in launching an all-out effort to secure specialized battery personnel by partnering with four domestic universities within a month.

Samsung SDI announced on the 24th that it signed an agreement with Hanyang University and KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) to cultivate battery talents.

Samsung SDI and Hanyang University will select 200 Samsung SDI scholarship students over 10 years starting from the 2022 academic year, targeting undergraduates who complete the battery convergence major and wish to join Samsung SDI. These students will join Samsung SDI immediately upon graduation. Students selected for the 'KSBT' (KAIST-Samsung SDI Battery Talent Cultivation Program) master's and doctoral courses will complete battery-related subjects and conduct field-oriented research.

Samsung SDI previously signed battery talent cultivation agreements with Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) on the 3rd and Seoul National University on the 17th. Through agreements with these four universities, Samsung SDI plans to select 200 bachelor's and 300 master's and doctoral scholarship students over 10 years starting from the 2022 academic year. All scholarship students are guaranteed employment at Samsung SDI.

The initiative was first launched by LG Energy Solution. In September, it established the 'Battery and Smart Factory Department' with Korea University, and in October, the 'Secondary Battery Convergence Engineering Cooperative Program' with Yonsei University. SK On also recruited master's students related to batteries at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST).

The reason the three domestic battery companies have consecutively signed agreements with prestigious universities to cultivate battery talents is due to the urgent need to secure future talents. According to the Korea Battery Industry Association, the domestic battery industry lacks 1,810 bachelor's-level process personnel and 1,013 master's and doctoral-level research and design personnel. Samsung SDI President Jeon Young-hyun emphasized the necessity of talent acquisition and government support at the 'InterBattery 2021' exhibition held in June, stating, "The secondary battery industry is growing, but there is a shortage of personnel."

The battery industry is known to require doctoral-level talents even on the factory floor due to the complexity of production processes and fierce competition for manufacturing innovation to reduce costs. However, since there are no specialized university courses, even when hiring personnel with related majors such as materials engineering, retraining after employment is necessary. The fact that the three battery companies pay salaries separately to students completing talent cultivation degrees and guarantee their employment shows how desperate they are to secure personnel.

Professor Cho Jae-pil of the Department of Energy Chemical Engineering at UNIST said, "Through industry-academia cooperation, companies do not need retraining when hiring personnel, and graduate students are guaranteed employment, creating a win-win situation." He added, "Korean companies are the only ones collaborating with universities to cultivate talents in the next-generation battery field, which is expected to greatly impact enhancing competitiveness in the global battery market."

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