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| Jobseekers for Samsung affiliates take an online entrance exam at Samsung Electronics' business complex in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, May 31, 2020. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics |
By Kim Jae-heun
Most major conglomerates will no longer hold large recruitment drives to hire large numbers of new employees all at once, instead switching to a system where they hire new workers at less regular intervals based on fluctuating needs.
Samsung is the last one still saying its affiliates will continue to hold mass recruitment drives regularly, now that SK Group revealed its plan to change its hiring system next year.
This irregular recruitment has been used by Hyundai Heavy Industries since 2016 and Hanwha Group since 2018. Hyundai Motor ended its regular mass recruitment drives in February 2019 and LG Group followed suit last year. Lotte Group also converted to an on-demand recruitment policy in the first half of this year.
These changes are likely to make the job search competition fiercer in the second half of this year ― especially for Samsung and SK, the two companies still offering mass hiring drives.
Samsung said it will hire 40,000 people in total over the next three years for its most of subsidiaries including Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDS, Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Samsung Display. Meanwhile, SK Group will hold a mass recruitment drive in the second half of this year for only five of its affiliates, including SK Innovation, SK Biopharmaceuticals and SK E&S.
It isn't only conglomerates that are ending their recruitment drives.
According to online job search service Saramin's survey targeting 337 domestic firms, 81.6 percent of them said they will not hold regular recruitment drives in the second half of this year. Only 11.6 percent of the respondents said they will adopt both regular and irregular recruitment systems and 6.8 percent said they will only employ workers on demand only.
Jobseekers here tend to prefer regular recruitment drives, as they can prepare more easily for companies' entrance exams and interviews when there is a fixed date. However, if a company hires at random times, it is harder to prepare in a short period of time.
Companies that hire new workers on demand value job suitability over their general capability in various fields. In other words, work experience in a specific field will be preferred in an irregular recruiting system. Jobseekers will have to keep a close watch for recruitment announcements from individual companies and focus on building a career in their specialty.
Another option is to utilize an intern system. Saramin's 2020 research shows 54.9 percent of local firms currently offer internships, and offer full-time positions to qualified interns who have proven themselves. The figure increased by 7.7 percent compared to the previous year.
