A leading South Korean conglomerate specializing in AI posted five AI developer job openings between January and May this year, averaging about one hire per month. However, the company faced significant challenges in retaining new hires, with three to four out of every ten recruits not showing up for work. Despite reposting the vacancies, the positions remained unfilled, with some employees leaving in less than a month.
“At first, we thought they were moving to professorships or other large companies, but many went to big tech firms like Google and Apple in the United States,” said the company’s human resources executive. “It was a recruitment game we shouldn’t have played.”
The global surge in AI and AI semiconductor industries has sparked intense competition for talent. In the U.S., starting salaries for PhD graduates from top universities are $400,000. Kim, 29, a master’s student in AI at a university in the U.S., noted, “I don’t know any Korean students in the same field who plan to return to Korea after graduation.” Graduates from less prestigious universities demand starting salaries around 1.5 million won ($108,562) from Korean companies. “It’s not a level that Korean companies can match,” said a CTO at a large Korean company. “Who would want to stay in Korea under these circumstances?”
The outflow of Korean talent is significant. According to the Paulson Institute at the University of Chicago, 40% of AI talent with graduate degrees from Korea had left the country by 2022. The semiconductor industry faces similar issues, with production bases expanding in the U.S., Japan, and Europe, and the AI boom intensifying the competition for semiconductor talent.
A survey of technology and human resources executives at ten large companies, including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, LG, and KT, revealed that 9 out of 10 found it “difficult” or “very difficult” to recruit high-level employees with master’s degrees in science and engineering.
One Korean semiconductor company recently hired an engineer from a prestigious overseas university, only to be informed later that the engineer had accepted a position with a big U.S. tech firm.
“I requested big tech salaries and conditions to attract him, but it was impossible to match,” an HR executive said. This scenario is common as science and engineering graduates, particularly in AI and semiconductors, apply to both Korean and international companies.”
All ten executives surveyed emphasized hiring employees with master’s or doctoral degrees in science or engineering. However, as global competition for talent intensifies, Korean companies struggle against well-funded big tech firms. Additionally, Korea faces a dual challenge as it loses top talent to medical schools.
“Big tech companies offer higher salaries and a meritocratic culture, giving a career advantage over Korean firms,” said Yoo, who transitioned from a large Korean company to a Silicon Valley tech company after earning a master’s degree in computer science in the U.S. “In Korea, it’s impossible to match the same level of reward for effort due to system differences, such as smaller markets and employment patterns.”
