Since 1995, the Samsung Group has publicly advocated the policy of "open recruitment", with efforts to eliminate gender and academic discrimination from its hiring practices.
And now they're hoping to further level the playing field by giving more opportunities to university graduates from the provinces and low-income families.

Samsung officials have said that they will increase the proportion of college graduates from schools outside of Seoul to 35-percent, up from a previous 27-percent.
Its HR deparments will also be introducing a 5-percent mandate to recruit university graduates from underprivileged households.
In addition, for the first time Samsung is planning to provide a special recruitment session for post-secondary graduates who receive a recommendation from university presidents and faculty deans.
The recommendation will be based on financial need and academic merit.


[Interview : Seo Dong-myun, Director
Samsung Future Strategy Department] "Since academic discrimination and school rankings go hand-in-hand, we're hoping to open the doors of employment opportunities to those who are relatively underprivileged or at a disadvantage."

The new recruitment policies will start in the second half of this year, with an expected 4,five-hundred applicants to be hired for a total of 9-thousand jobs this year.

Samsung will also be redoubling its efforts to help low-income middle and high school students with support initiatives including the "Dream Class" and "Ladder of Hope" programs.
Though Samsung's push for a fairer and more balanced hiring process is certainly admirable, it seems like merely a drop in the bucket in a hyper-competitive job market with a large unemployment rate for college graduates.

Paul Yi, Arirang News

Reporter : arirangpaulyi@gmail.com