Samsung SDS to double IT workforce in Vietnam, India

[Photo by Samsung Electronics Co.]

South Korea’s leading system integration (SI) solution provider Samsung SDS Co. will double the number of developers in Vietnam and India by the end of this year from last year to deal with increased technology maintenance demand in overseas factories on high popularity of Samsung Electronics Co.’ newly released foldable phones and domestic developer shortage.

Samsung SDS said Thursday that it currently has 3,000 workers at its global delivery centers (GDCs) in Vietnam, India and China who are responsible for developing IT services in the local nations, up from 2,000 as of the end of 2020. It aims to increase the number to 4,000 by the end of this year, almost 30 percent of the company’s domestic workforce.

It is a very sharp growth considering that it had only 100 or more GDC workers in 2014.

“As IT companies at home and abroad are actively utilizing overseas manpower, Samsung SDS is making efforts to secure tech workers in foreign countries like Vietnam and India,” said an official from the company.

Industry watchers suggest the aggressive recruitment of overseas workers is part of its efforts to deal with the rapidly rising labor costs at home. Samsung SDS’ average annual salary rose 1.5 times over the past decade to 99 million won ($84,579) in 2020.

Samsung SDS said the expansion of overseas GDC workforce has nothing to do with factory expansion but industry observers believe the company will add a huge number of engineers and developers in Vietnam to help strengthen manufacturing capacity of Samsung Electronics that has to meet the growing demand of foldable smartphones. Samsung affiliates consign IT service works of factories in overseas countries to Samsung SDS for security reasons.

Samsung SDS has recently built a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) system for GDCs in partnership with Kosdaq-listed Tilon. The Tilon VDI is a remote work system, which allows simultaneous access of up to 300 people. Samsung SDS also became the largest shareholder of Vietnamese No.2 IT solution provider CMC in 2019 to utilize the market as not only its IT service production hub but also lucrative investment.

Samsung Electronics said on Thursday that there is no disruption in its Indian factories producing wireless devices during a conference call held after releasing its third-quarter earnings on Thursday. Its smartphone and consumer electronics plants in India were once put to a halt due to the virus spread but they have resumed production. Samsung SDS will also add developers in India to support Samsung Electronics.

Samsung SDS’s recent move is in contrast to its rivals. The country’s second and third biggest IT solution providers LG CNS and SK C&C have not expanded their GDC workforce since 2014, maintaining the number at around 1,000 and 300, respectively. LG CNS moved its GDC from China to Vietnam as LG affiliates moved its manufacturing base to the Southeast Asian country.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]