Nation’s IT giants to hire more overseas Koreans

The nation’s big enterprises and information technology-oriented venture firms will hold a job fair in Silicon Valley in the United States in November to recruit overseas Koreans.

The job fair, slated for Nov. 12-13 in Santa Clara, California, is part of the first premier technology conference organized by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

Among the estimated 30 sponsors and recruiters are Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, SK Hynix and Asiana Airlines.

Ministry officials said the recruitment target is executive-level figures as well as young jobseekers residing in the U.S.

Aside from the job fair, the event, dubbed “K-Tech 2012,” will include programs such as the IT Convergence Conference, IT Exposition, Start-up IR and Tech Road Show.

“IT Convergence will provide a platform for over 500 Korean and U.S. IT experts and entrepreneurs to demonstrate their recent advancements,” the ministry said in a statement.

By leveraging Korea’s competitive labor force, productivity and advanced IT infrastructure, Korean firms hope to form stronger partnerships throughout the value chain, domestically and abroad, to achieve capital efficiency, broaden distribution and accelerate innovation, the ministry said.

A ministry official said the event also reflects the reality that the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement is expanding trade relations between the two countries and creating more opportunities for collaboration, particularly in the areas of IT.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics and its parent Samsung Group have been expanding recruitment of students from provincial colleges as well as those in foreign countries.

Samsung Group said it hired 1,600 jobseekers who graduated from provincial colleges, which account for 36 percent of the newly employed 4,500 workers for the third quarter of this year.

The conglomerate also employed a total of 3,300 people with disabilities as of March, accounting for 1.6 percent of all employees, and plans to continue the effort to meet the government’s legal recommendation of 2.5 percent.

Samsung has recruited an expert in the hiring of the disabled and is in the process of devising related policies and transforming the working environment into one comfortable for the group.

Since employing 600 workers with disabilities in 2005, the business group has gradually increased the figure to 1,500 in 2007, 1,700 in 2009 and 2,600 in 2010.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)