Shipyards are short of workers! South Korea's shipbuilding industry launches its largest recruitment drive in eight years

In recent years, the shipbuilding industry, once considered a pillar of South Korea's economic growth and job creation, has experienced its most difficult period ever. However, with a surge in new ship orders, the once-depressed South Korean shipbuilding industry is once again bustling. South Korean shipbuilders, having suffered severe talent loss due to years of market downturn, are implementing their largest recruitment drive in nearly 10 years. While addressing the immediate labor shortage, South Korean shipbuilders are also focusing on long-term strategies, accelerating the cultivation of future talent and incubation of startups. To enhance the competitiveness of the shipbuilding industry, South Korea is taking solid steps to transition from the traditional shipbuilding industry focused on ship construction to emerging industries such as green ships and intelligent ships, which are high value-added vessels.

Expansion in Scale: Two Major Shipbuilders' Recruitment Exceeds 1,000 This Year

It is reported that major South Korean shipbuilders are expanding their recruitment of skilled and new employees for shipbuilding production lines and design positions. Shipbuilders, who underwent large-scale workforce adjustments due to persistently low orders over the past several years, have reached recruitment numbers in the hundreds this year, marking the largest recruitment drive since 2014.

In June this year, Daewoo Shipbuilding launched a large-scale recruitment program of over 200 people, including skilled and new employees. To quickly hire excellent talent, they simplified the recruitment process, omitting cumbersome procedures such as personality tests. A Daewoo Shipbuilding official stated: "Compared to the average recruitment of only dozens of people in recent years, the company's recruitment scale this year has increased 3 to 4 times."

Previously, Daewoo Shipbuilding recruited dozens of talents in November last year for various positions including design, production management, quality, R&D, and operations.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Group also plans to recruit over 400 new employees in July in the shipbuilding, offshore, construction machinery, and energy sectors. Including the over 400 employees recruited earlier this year, a total of over 800 employees will be added this year. Hyundai Heavy Industries Group stated that with the continued improvement of the global shipbuilding market and the surge in new ship orders, coupled with the urgent need for additional personnel in R&D for environmentally friendly and intelligent ships, they have expanded their recruitment scale.

At the beginning of this year, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard hired the largest number of skilled and new employees in production technology positions in five years; Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries also restarted open recruitment for production technology positions after seven or eight years, providing manpower for shipbuilding sites. In particular, addressing the rising value of software development talent, Avikus, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group's autonomous navigation ship solution subsidiary, has been recruiting new graduates since January this year to cultivate a workforce that can grow with the company. They plan to adjust salaries to market rates, offering employees the highest level of wages in the South Korean IT industry, along with benefits on par with large corporations.

It is reported that due to the downturn in the shipbuilding market several years ago, South Korea experienced a continuous loss of talent in the shipbuilding industry. With the current recovery of the global shipbuilding market towards high value-added and green transformation, the performance of the South Korean shipbuilding industry is also improving. South Korea hopes to seize this opportunity to become the world's leading shipbuilding nation. In September 2021, the South Korean government released the "South Korea Shipbuilding Re-takeoff Strategy," setting a goal of achieving a 75% market share in green ships and a 50% market share in unmanned ships, aiming to become the world's number one shipbuilding power.

From order placement to design completion, shipbuilding typically takes 2-3 years. Even to meet current shipbuilding demands, a large number of specialized personnel are needed before 2022. To this end, the South Korean government plans to cultivate 8,000 shipbuilding production and technical personnel by the end of 2022 to enhance digital productivity in smart shipyards and strive to improve shipbuilding production efficiency by 30% by 2030.

To stabilize the employment of skilled technical personnel, the South Korean government has decided to promote the "Gyeongnam Stable Employment Experience" in regions with a high concentration of shipbuilding companies, such as Ulsan, Busan, and Mokpo. The government will subsidize training fees, labor costs, and four major insurance premiums to companies. Companies re-employing former employees will receive employment subsidies of 300,000 to 500,000 won (approximately 1,656 to 2,760 RMB) per month for up to eight months, and subsidies will also be provided to companies hiring new employees.

Relevant South Korean industry insiders stated: "Shipbuilding companies have frequently exceeded their order targets since last year. While enjoying the boom in orders, they are engaged in fierce competition to secure the necessary manpower for shipbuilding." However, South Korean industry insiders also pointed out that with the rapid growth of orders, labor shortages have become one of the biggest challenges facing South Korean shipbuilders. This is the main reason for the expansion of recruitment by South Korean shipbuilders. However, large-scale recruitment is not only to cope with the increasing volume of shipbuilding but also to accelerate the development of future environmentally friendly and intelligent ships.

Focusing on the Future: Collaborating with South Korean Universities to Cultivate Shipbuilding and Ocean Talent

According to South Korean industry sources, to cultivate global maritime talent, following its collaboration with Korea Maritime University in March this year, HMM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mokpo National Maritime University on June 15. Both parties will seek mutual benefit through enhanced exchanges and work together to develop South Korea's maritime industry.
 
According to the agreement, HMM will actively cooperate with Mokpo National Maritime University in areas such as cultivating specialized personnel in environmentally friendly and intelligent ships, conducting joint training using both parties' infrastructure, and exploring R&D projects. Furthermore, to support the cultivation of global seafarers and build cutting-edge education and research infrastructure, HMM will donate a seafarer training development fund to Mokpo National Maritime University.