Samsung launches second-half recruitment drive at 19 affiliates starting Tuesday

Samsung is launching its second-half open recruitment drive for new hires, with 19 affiliates — including Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T and Samsung Biologics — taking part. Samsung is the only major conglomerate in South Korea to have maintained a mass open recruitment system.

Samsung announced Monday that the second-half hiring process will begin Tuesday.

The 19 participating affiliates are Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, Samsung Biologics, Samsung Bioepis, Samsung Life, Samsung Display, Samsung SDI, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung SDS, Samsung Fire, Samsung Card, Samsung Securities, Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung E&A, Hotel Shilla, Cheil Worldwide, S1, Samsung Medical Center and Samsung Welstory.

Applicants may submit their applications through Samsung's recruitment website, Samsung Careers, from Tuesday through Sept. 15. The selection process will then proceed with a job-fit evaluation in September, followed by the Samsung Global Aptitude Test in October, interviews in November and a medical examination.

Candidates applying for software positions will take a practical software competency test in place of the aptitude test. Those applying for design roles will be assessed through a portfolio review instead.

Samsung introduced open recruitment in 1957 — the first South Korean company to do so — and has maintained the practice for 70 consecutive years. Among the country's four largest conglomerates — Samsung, SK Group, Hyundai Motor Company and LG Group — Samsung is the only one still holding regular open recruitment.

With the exception of extraordinary circumstances such as the Asian financial crisis in the 1990s, Samsung has continued open recruitment even through economic downturns, including the oil shocks of the 1970s and the global financial crisis of the 2000s. As most large South Korean companies have shifted to rolling, need-based hiring, Samsung stands out for sustaining large-scale periodic recruitment of new graduates.

The company has also pursued reforms to its hiring practices over the decades. In 1993, Samsung introduced a separate open recruitment track for female university graduates, and in 1995 it removed academic qualification requirements for applicants. It also developed and introduced its own aptitude test — the Samsung Global Aptitude Test — to select candidates based on job competency.

Samsung said it plans to continue hiring young workers as it expands domestic investment in advanced industries including semiconductors, AI, biotech, batteries and displays.

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong said at a meeting between business groups and corporate leaders held at the presidential office last August that the company would "continue relevant investment to sustainably create quality jobs and foster high-value-added industries in South Korea."

At a separate meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae in February, Lee was quoted as saying that Samsung Electronics' "operating performance has been improving significantly, giving us a bit more capacity to hire this year" — remarks that came as the company's market capitalization surpassed 1,000 trillion won ($738 billion).

Alongside open recruitment, Samsung has been expanding programs to develop young talent. The company operates the Samsung Youth Software and AI Academy, known as SSAFY, across five campuses nationwide — in Seoul, Daejeon, Gwangju, Gumi and Busan — providing free software and AI education to young people.

Samsung is also working to secure skilled technical workers. Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Samsung Display have collectively hired about 1,600 winners of the National Skills Competition through a special recruitment track from 2007 to 2025.