Samsung sponsorship of National Skilled Competition continues in pursuit of talent

Samsung Electronics has continued to sponsor the National Skilled Competition, a talent-fostering event that is in its 59th edition this year.

A participant competing in the mobile robotics field of the 59th National Skilled Competition works on a project in a gymnasium in Gumi, North Gyeongsang, on Monday. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics is once again sponsoring the National Skilled Competition, a state-backed program designed to foster young skilled workers that kicked off its 59th edition on Saturday.

The electronics giant has been sponsoring the event since 2007 as it shares the goal of fostering skilled talent to foritify the competitiveness of the country's manufacturing industry.

It has been providing 250 million won ($189,000) to the competition every year and has hired those who showed excellent performances, employing 1,600 participants from the competition to date across its affiliates like Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Samsung Display.

This year's event is taking place in North Gyeongsang, with 1,800 participants attending to compete in 50 fields like polymechanics and cloud computing through Friday.

In addition to the National Skills Competition, Samsung Electronics is also sponsoring the WorldSkills Competition, a global championship for skilled youths. Samsung's sponsorship goes back to 2007 when the event took place in Shizuoka, Japan. The next edition will take place in Lyon, France in September.

Samsung provides training sessions for its employees to participate in the global event, in which the fields range from mechanics to mobile robotics. A total of 24 Samsung employees are currently undergoing training for the Lyon event.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong has also paid special attention to the event, acknowleding the importance of skills.

"Young talent is the champion of the era of technology innovation and the main players of Korea's future technology," Lee had said when he visited the closing ceremony of the WorldSkills Competition in 2022.

"Korea's growth owes to this young skilled talent."

Lee last year paid a visit to Gumi Electronic Technical High School in North Gyeongsang to show his support and interest.

Samsung has recently expanded eligibility for admission to the Samsung Software Academy, known as SSAFY, from college graduates to technical high school graduates to offer fairer opportunities.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]