The Company College Students Want to Work for Most After 10 Years
Starting Salary for Graduates 53 Million KRW · Four-Day Workweek Once a Month
Kakao, Ranked First for 3 Consecutive Years, Drops to Second Place
Samsung Electronics ranked first as the most desirable company for university students to work at in 2023. This marks a two-step rise from third place last year and a reclaiming of the top spot after 10 years.
Kakao, which had held the top position for three consecutive years, dropped one place to second this year.
Incruit announced the results of a survey conducted on May 14, targeting 872 university students nationwide who are job seekers, titled "The Most Desired Companies to Work for by University Students in 2023." The survey was conducted from May 11 to 29, and the subjects were the top 130 companies by market capitalization listed on the domestic stock market (KOSPI and KOSDAQ).
The first place went to Samsung Electronics (8.1%). Samsung Electronics, which had been ranked first for five consecutive years since 2009, had maintained a top 10 position since 2014, and this time reclaimed the top spot after 10 years. Respondents who chose this company most frequently cited "satisfactory salary and compensation system" (56.3%) as the reason.
In fact, Samsung Electronics raised the starting salary for university graduates to 53 million KRW last year and recently introduced a four-day workweek once a month.
According to an analysis by major, Samsung Electronics ranked first (14.1%) among 'Engineering and Electronics,' proving it is a preferred company among science students. By gender, it was the most preferred company among male respondents (11.3%).
Kakao, which was first for three consecutive years, dropped to second; Naver fell from second to third
Second place went to Kakao (7.5%). Kakao, which had held the top spot for three consecutive years, dropped one step this year.
Respondents who chose Kakao most frequently cited "excellent welfare benefits" (27.7%) as the reason. Kakao designates the last Friday of every month as "Recovery Day" for rest and offers various welfare programs supporting hobbies and study activities. Recently, it opened 'Byeolidun,' the industry's largest workplace daycare center, showing its commitment to family-friendly policies.
By major, Kakao ranked first (7.0%) in the 'Natural Sciences, Medicine, and Life Sciences' category, and by gender, it was the most preferred company among female respondents (8.7%).
Naver, which was second last year (6.8%), ranked third this year. The most common reason for choosing Naver was "satisfactory salary and compensation system" (33.9%). In the major-specific survey, Naver ranked first (9.1%) in the 'Humanities, Social Sciences, and Business' category, making it the most preferred company among liberal arts students.
Fourth place went to Hyundai Motor Company (5.6%), rising sharply from eighth place last year. "Satisfactory salary and compensation system" (38.8%) was cited as the reason for choosing Hyundai Motor Company.
Fifth place was Amorepacific (3.3%), maintaining its previous year's ranking, and sixth place was CJ ENM (2.9%).
SK Hynix drops from 4th to 7th... CJ CheilJedang falls from 6th to 10th
Some companies saw a decline in rankings compared to last year's survey.
SK Hynix (2.8%) fell three places from fourth to seventh this year, and Korean Air (2.4%) dropped two places to ninth. CJ CheilJedang (2.2%), which was sixth last year, fell to tenth place this year.
The company newly entering the top 10 is Samsung C&T Corporation (2.5%). Except for being ranked first in the comprehensive trading company category in the 'Industry-specific University Student Preferred Companies' in 2018, Samsung C&T had never entered the overall top 10 but rose to eighth place this year.
Besides Samsung Electronics and Samsung C&T, Samsung Group affiliates Hotel Shilla (2.1%) and Samsung Biologics (1.8%) ranked 11th and 12th respectively, marking a notable presence in the upper ranks.
Incruit analyzed, "Samsung Group is the only major domestic conglomerate maintaining large-scale regular recruitment and announced plans to hire 16,000 people in the first half of the year, which seems to have raised expectations among new job seekers reflected in the rankings."
They added, "In the past, many sought career growth through learning opportunities, but recently, there is a growing trend of people wanting high-level salaries, welfare benefits, and definite rewards."
Meanwhile, according to the 'May Employment Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 14th, the employment rate for those aged 15-64 last month was 69.9%, the highest since related statistics began in 1989. However, employment among the youth (ages 15-29) decreased by 99,000, marking a decline for seven consecutive months.
The number of youth classified as 'not working' increased by 40,000. Statistics Korea explained, "There is a growing tendency for young people who have dropped out of the job market to pause their job search activities, thus being counted as economically inactive rather than unemployed."
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