Samsung, SK, LG and Other Major Corporations Wage 'Talent Acquisition War'... CEOs Take Direct Action and Dedicated Teams Established

Shin Hak-cheol, Vice Chairman of LG Chem
Hosts Recruitment Event in the US
Samsung Electronics Executive T&C Forum
Held at Five Domestic Universities
Lotte Holdings Breaks Purity Rule
Establishes Dedicated External Recruitment Team

Shin Hak-cheol, Vice Chairman and CEO of LG Chem, is explaining the current status and future direction of LG Chem's research and development at the LG Chem recruitment event 'BC (Business & Campus) Tour' held on the 26th at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York, USA. Photo by LG Chem

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seoyoon] Large corporations are competitively recruiting top talent. As uncertainty in the business environment increases, securing personnel to lead new growth engines is becoming even more important. CEOs are flying overseas to personally host recruitment events, and executive teams are attending domestic university recruitment briefings for the first time, showing enthusiasm for recruiting talent in new business areas.

According to the industry on the 29th, Shin Seok-cheol, Vice Chairman and CEO of LG Chem, has personally managed recruitment briefings every year since his appointment in 2019, except for 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Recently, he visited the United States to secure talent for next-generation batteries and eco-friendly materials. On the 26th, he hosted the LG Chem recruitment event ‘BC (Business & Campus) Tour’ at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York, USA. Vice Chairman Shin Seok-cheol, along with Yoo Ji-young, CTO (Chief Technology Officer) Vice President, and Kim Sung-min, CHO (Chief Human Resources Officer) Vice President, all participated.

Vice Chairman Shin addressed about 40 master's and doctoral students from over 20 major North American universities including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, University of Toronto, and McGill University, saying, "After major transitions or crises like the current one, innovations driven by science and technology talents like you have followed, serving as the driving force and breakthrough for human progress." He added, "Join LG Chem’s challenge to restructure its business portfolio based on ESG, and freely apply the knowledge and technology accumulated by global talents like you."

Samsung Electronics’ executive team recently visited five domestic universities to secure semiconductor research and development (R&D) personnel, conducting the ‘T&C (Tech & Career) Forum’ for current master's and doctoral students as well as graduates.

The T&C Forum is a global recruitment briefing in the semiconductor field started by Samsung Electronics in 2016. A Samsung Electronics official said, "This is the first time the executive team has visited domestic universities as part of the T&C Forum," adding, "We have expanded the scope of the T&C Forum, which was previously held as a global event, to domestic universities starting this year."

Lee Jung-bae, Head of the Memory Business Division, held recruitment briefings at Seoul National University and Sungkyunkwan University on the 16th and 23rd respectively. Jung Eun-seung, CTO of the DS Division, visited KAIST on the 17th, Choi Si-young, Head of the Foundry Business Division, visited Yonsei University on the 18th, and Park Yong-in, Head of the LSI Business Division, held a recruitment lecture at Pohang University of Science and Technology on the 24th.

Kim Jun, CEO of SK Innovation, who usually emphasizes that "a company's competitiveness starts with securing excellent talent," flew to San Francisco, USA, last October to recruit top talent in focused growth areas such as next-generation batteries. He gave a presentation directly in front of talents at SK Group’s annual event for discovering global talent, the ‘Global Forum,’ sharing the company’s vision.

Breaking away from exclusivism, dedicated teams for external talent recruitment are also being established. Lotte Holdings formed the ‘STAR Team’ in April to recruit external talent, following Chairman Shin Dong-bin’s directive emphasizing ‘securing core talent.’ STAR stands for ‘Strategic Top Talent Advisors & Recruiters Team.’

Professor Lee Seok-geun of Sogang University’s Business School said, "To meet the efforts of companies trying to recruit good talent, infrastructure should be established in the earlier stage of education to cultivate skills or capabilities that can be immediately applied in the workplace." He added, "After recruiting core talents, a corporate culture that respects talent should be created so that they can work at the company for at least three years."

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