Concerns grow over brain drain to China

[THE INVESTOR] Concerns are growing over brain drain within technology-intensive industries such as display and semiconductor as talented workers are leaving the country for new opportunities, mostly for China.

A significant portion of highly trained tech talents are finding jobs at Chinese runner-ups that are willing to spend big to attract them. According to industry sources, Chines chipmakers are offering almost tenfold increase in current salary.

One of the most high-profile moves is Kim Woo-sik, former vice president of LG Display, who was named early this year as CEO of CSOT, China’s second-largest display maker affiliated with tech giant TCL.

It is the first time that a former Korean executive has been named to lead a Chinese display maker. 

In 2003, China’s largest display maker BOE acquired Hysco, the liquid-crystal display business of then Hyundai Electronics. Currently, there are some 100 Korean workers at the company. Dozens of Korean workers are believed to be working at CSOT.

The situation is no different in the semiconductor industry.

The Chinese government has invested some 75 trillion won (US$70 billion) over the past year to beef up chip production, especially more value-added memory chips.

Chinese manufacturers still depend on Korean or US companies when it comes to memory chips that are increasingly used for smartphones.

No data has been collected on how many Korean tech workers work at Chinese semiconductor companies. Because the Chinese government doesn’t allow workers to move to a rival company, firms sometimes hire Korean engineers in shady deals.

But some workers who moved to China three to four years ago are now coming back to Korea as they failed to renew their contracts.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)