Sales of books related to the entrance exam of South Korea's biggest conglomerate Samsung Group soared in March, one of the nation's largest booksellers said Tuesday, ahead of a change in its recruitment system later this year.
Yes 24 said its shipments of textbooks for the Samsung Aptitude Test jumped more than three-fold from a month earlier.
While sales of such books usually soar in March ahead of the exam at the end of the month, this year's growth hovered above the 158.2 percent and 60.6 percent tallied in 2013 and 2012, respectively.
"Sales of SSAT-related books surged at a faster pace compared to last year right after Samsung scrapped its new employment plan," said Park Soo-ho, an employee at the bookseller.
Market watchers said the rising demand for SSAT textbooks comes as Samsung, which scrapped its new employment plan in January, is anticipated to roll out another recruitment program later in the year that apparently will give fewer jobseekers a chance to take the test.
Earlier this year, Samsung said it planned to impose stricter qualifications on those wishing to take the SSAT, alarming jobseekers.
The move came after some 200,000 job hopefuls applied to Samsung in 2013, with most of them being given the chance to take the test. Samsung said the number of SSAT takers was a financial burden for both the company and the applicants.
The group added it will also adopt a new employment system from this year allowing local college presidents to recommend their students for jobs with the business group, a system it said would help in hiring a diverse array of applicants with varying talents.
Samsung, however, scrapped the plan only two weeks later, amid public criticism that it favored some universities over others, adding that it will devise a better recruitment plan in the near future.
Samsung, which kicked off its first-half recruitment Monday, will receive applications through Friday, with the SSAT being held on April 13 in major cities, as well as in the United States and Canada. (Yonhap)
