Samsung, Kia, Hyosung, and Others Begin Second Half Recruitment... Job Market Narrows (Comprehensive)

Major Domestic Companies Conduct Recruitment on the 11th
Competition Rate for New University Graduate Hiring 81 to 1

Major domestic companies began their second half recruitment on the 11th. However, as the job market becomes increasingly competitive, the threshold for young people to enter large corporations is expected to rise.

First, Samsung and its 20 affiliates will conduct their second half new employee recruitment until the 18th. Samsung is the only one among the four major conglomerates to maintain a public recruitment system.

The Samsung affiliates participating in the second half recruitment include ▲Samsung Electronics ▲Samsung Display ▲Samsung Electro-Mechanics ▲Samsung SDI ▲Samsung SDS ▲Samsung Biologics ▲Samsung Bioepis ▲Samsung C&T ▲Samsung Heavy Industries ▲Samsung Engineering ▲Samsung Life Insurance ▲Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance ▲Samsung Card ▲Samsung Securities ▲Samsung Medical Center ▲Hotel Shilla ▲Cheil Worldwide ▲S-1 ▲Samsung Welstory ▲Samsung Electronics Sales, totaling 20 companies.

Kia is also conducting its second half recruitment for university graduates until the 25th. Since the second half of last year, Kia has introduced a hybrid recruitment method. In the first half, it conducts monthly continuous recruitment by job function, and in the second half, it conducts batch recruitment by division. This recruitment covers 13 divisions: ▲Global Business ▲Domestic Business ▲Autoland Hwaseong ▲Autoland Gwangmyeong ▲Autoland Gwangju ▲Powertrain (PT) Business ▲Manufacturing Solutions (Production Technology) ▲Production Planning ▲Purchasing ▲Quality ▲Customer Experience (Brand, Marketing, CX) ▲Finance ▲Safety and Environment.

Hyosung Group is conducting an open recruitment for university graduates until the 22nd. The holding company and six affiliates including ▲Hyosung TNC ▲Hyosung Advanced Materials ▲Hyosung Heavy Industries ▲Hyosung Chemical ▲Hyosung Information Systems ▲Hyosung Goodsprings plan to hire about 200 employees.

Hyundai Glovis is also recruiting new employees for the second half. The recruitment areas cover all business sectors including ▲Logistics ▲Shipping ▲Distribution ▲New Business ▲KD (knock-down: exporting parts and assembling, producing, and selling locally) ▲IT ▲Management Support.

LG CNS is starting a three-digit scale recruitment for new employees in the second half. They are recruiting in seven fields: ▲Artificial Intelligence (AI) ▲Data ▲Cloud Application Modernization (AM) ▲Cloud Architecture ▲Smart Logistics ▲Consulting ▲DX Engineer.

Earlier, major domestic conglomerates such as SK, POSCO, and Hanwha also began large-scale new employee recruitment for the second half. SK Group’s refining and chemical affiliate SK Innovation, along with ▲SK Energy ▲SK Geocentric ▲SK Enmove ▲SK Trading International ▲SK IE Technology ▲SK Earthon, six business subsidiaries within the group, are conducting recruitment by job function until the 24th.

For POSCO Group, POSCO and six affiliates including ▲POSCO International ▲POSCO Future M ▲POSCO DX ▲POSCO A&C ▲POSCO IH are recruiting new employees until the 19th. Hanwha’s newly acquired Hanwha Ocean (formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering) is accepting applications until the 24th. Hanwha Aerospace is also accepting new employee applications until the 25th.

As the economic downturn intensifies, the youth employment market in the second half is expected to become even tighter. The Federation of Korean Industries commissioned Research & Research, a public opinion research firm, to survey the '2023 Second Half University Graduate New Recruitment Plans' targeting the top 500 companies by sales. The results showed that more than 6 out of 10 responding companies (64.6%) either did not plan new recruitment for the second half of this year (48.0%) or will not recruit (16.6%).

Companies cited reasons for not recruiting or not increasing recruitment scale as ▲Entering austerity management to respond to deteriorating profitability and management uncertainty (25.3%) ▲Economic downturn due to prolonged global recession, high interest rates, and high exchange rates (19.0%) ▲Cost reduction in preparation for rising raw material prices and labor costs (15.2%).

Therefore, competition for university graduate employment this year is expected to be fiercer than last year. The expected average competition ratio for new university graduate recruitment this year is 81 to 1. Last year’s average competition ratio was 77 to 1 according to responding companies.

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