96.4% Employment Rate: The High School Gaining Global Attention as the Fast Track to Becoming a Samsung or SK Hynix Employee

96.4% Employment Rate

Surging Inquiries About the School's Operational Model

As the artificial intelligence (AI) boom sweeps across the globe, the Korean semiconductor industry is experiencing a surge of activity, and The New York Times (NYT), a leading U.S. daily, has turned its attention to Chungbuk Semiconductor High School in Eumseong, Chungbuk.

Students are engaged in practical training activities at Chungbuk Semiconductor High School in Eumseong, Chungbuk. Chungbuk Semiconductor High School

On June 26 (local time), the NYT reported that Chungbuk Semiconductor High School was designated as a Meister high school specializing in semiconductor equipment in 2010, making it the oldest among the four Meister high schools in Korea that are specialized in the semiconductor industry. The school has an enrollment of about 300 students, six dormitories and simulated semiconductor equipment training facilities. Students are known to develop into talent who can be immediately deployed at companies after being hired, thanks to highly specialized practical training programs. Last year, 107 out of 111 graduates eligible for employment found jobs, resulting in a 96.4% employment rate. This figure is significantly higher than the average employment rate of 55.2% among other vocational high schools.

With the AI data center construction boom propelling Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to an unprecedented heyday, interest in the school has soared. Over the past year, inquiries about admission have more than tripled, and there has been a constant stream of requests to visit and learn from the school's operating model, including from Chinese state broadcasters. Seounseok, principal of Chungbuk Semiconductor High School, told the newspaper, "It seems like our school has become the hottest school in Korea right now."

The NYT especially highlighted the industry's atmosphere, including performance bonuses at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix and fierce employment competition, noting that each year, 20 top-performing first-year students from the school are selected for an internship program and receive scholarships from the two companies. Some graduates, upon returning to the school after gaining employment, share stories of receiving performance bonuses worth hundreds of millions of won and are seen generously paying for meals for several people. Principal Seounseok jokingly remarked, "It's not easy to hear a former student who worked for a year talk about a performance bonus that's bigger than my entire annual salary."

However, the NYT also pointed out the uncertain job outlook underlying the semiconductor industry boom. Although the government has announced plans to develop the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster into the world’s largest advanced semiconductor hub, and Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have stated they will continue to create new jobs, some experts argue that these job creation targets are unlikely to be met. A researcher at Hyundai Research Institute told the NYT, "Semiconductor manufacturing is not a labor-intensive industry but a capital-intensive one, so it cannot create many jobs."

In fact, a manager at XT, a Samsung Electronics equipment maintenance partner, told the newspaper that the trickle-down benefits of the semiconductor boom barely reach partner companies, stating, "If machines with advanced self-cleaning features are introduced, our jobs may disappear altogether in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.