Restructuring of SME Workforce Development University Focused on 'Future Strategic Industries'

Small and Medium Enterprise Talent Universities Increase from 3 to 6
New 'Technical Officer Class' Established at Outstanding Specialized High Schools

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 6th that it will reorganize universities for training personnel in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) centered on future strategic industries to respond to changes in the industrial field such as digital transformation, population cliff, and regional extinction.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

The SME Talent Universities, which operate contract departments for all degree programs including bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in connection with regional strategic industries, will be expanded from the existing three to six. The introduction model of SME Talent Universities will be diversified into new technology and new industry-linked types, local government cooperation types, and large and small business win-win types to increase the supply of manpower for advanced industries.

In addition, support for industry-academia cooperation project degrees within SME contract departments will be strengthened, and convergence and complex courses between contract departments and general departments will be expanded. In response to the continuously increasing demand for master's and doctoral programs in SME contract departments, programs such as thesis supervision for master's and doctoral degrees will also be introduced. The goal of SME contract departments is to establish degree programs at universities and support degree acquisition for current or prospective SME employees to cultivate them as core personnel of companies.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups also plans to focus on the Technical Officer Training Project. This project provides a four-year linked education program, including two years at vocational high schools and two years at junior colleges, to systematically train technical personnel required in SME workplaces. To establish a demand-oriented personnel training system, the linkage between graduates of the Technical Officer program and contract departments will be strengthened, and a ‘Technical Officer Class’ will be created at excellent specialized high schools to provide a growth ladder from high school to associate degree and doctoral degree.

Furthermore, based on the Ministry’s database of about 30,000 ‘Quite Good SMEs’ and other companies, the pool of excellent companies will be shared with business groups to establish a virtuous cycle system where good job matching leads to an increase in SME personnel inflow.

Park Jong-chan, Director of SME Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “Due to industrial structure reorganization, there is a need to train field professional technical personnel to meet the manpower demand in new technology and new industry fields of SMEs,” and added, “We hope that this reorganization of SME personnel training universities will establish an ecosystem for nurturing customized talents for future strategic industry fields.”

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