YC, Nepes, Huons among semiconductor, pharma and biotech firms taking part
Fair expands job matching beyond Seoul, where 90-plus firms met 6,000 seekers earlier this year
Mid-sized firms employ 1.757 million, or 13.9 percent of Korea's workforce
The Korea Federation of Middle Market Enterprises (FOMEK) held a large-scale hiring event in Daejeon to ease labor shortages at regional mid-sized companies and support young job seekers. A job fair in Seoul in March drew about 6,000 participants. The group's second-half event focused on connecting local talent with mid-sized firms in Daejeon and the Chungcheong region.
FOMEK said Tuesday it held the "2026 Mid-sized Enterprise Job Fair in Daejeon" at the Daejeon Convention Center, jointly with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Korea Student Aid Foundation and the Korea Industrial Technology Association.
Sixty-six mid-sized and candidate companies in the semiconductor and pharmaceutical-biotech sectors — including YC, Nepes and Huons — took part, drawing from Daejeon, the Chungcheong region and beyond. About 2,000 job seekers attended, exceeding the organizers' earlier target of more than 60 participating companies.
FOMEK also held the "2026 Mid-sized Enterprise Job Fair" at the aT Center in Yangjae, Seoul, on March 31. About 90 companies — including Sempio Foods, Nepes and Hanmi Pharm — and roughly 6,000 job seekers took part in that event. By following the first-half Seoul fair with a second-half event in Daejeon, FOMEK expanded its hiring-support reach beyond the greater Seoul area to regional mid-sized companies.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, mid-sized companies employ about 1.757 million people, or 13.9 percent of the country's total workforce. Despite that share, the ministry has said such companies still struggle to secure suitable talent, prompting it to expand hiring-support programs.
The Daejeon event featured one-on-one hiring consultations and interviews with individual companies, corporate briefing sessions, job-search consulting and mentoring from current employees at mid-sized firms. Organizers also ran an AI-based matching system that paired job seekers' profiles with suitable companies. They also provided real-time crowding information for each company booth, along with an online wait-list reservation service.
The Mid-sized Enterprise Job Fair series began in 2017. Through last year, a cumulative 857 mid-sized and candidate companies and about 50,000 job seekers had taken part, resulting in roughly 9,000 hires.
"To ease the labor shortages facing regional mid-sized companies, we will cooperate with the government, local governments and related organizations to expand not only tailored hiring-support programs for mid-sized firms but also settlement infrastructure covering housing, education, health care and culture," said Kim Hyun-chul, standing vice chairman of FOMEK.
hong@heraldcorp.com
