Three New Contract Departments and One Technical Cadet Program Designated, Focusing on Advanced Industries like Semiconductors, AI, and Robotics
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is taking steps to nurture talent in future promising fields such as advanced industries and regional strategic projects.
On the 30th, the Ministry announced the selection of new universities for SME workforce training, focusing on future promising fields such as semiconductors, bio-health, robotics, big data, and AI (artificial intelligence). This is to meet the workforce demand of new technologies, new industries, and regional SMEs due to industrial structure reorganization.
The Ministry designated a total of four universities as SME workforce training universities in future promising fields. The universities in charge of the 'SME Contract Departments' are Pyeongtaek University, Korea Polytechnic University, and Soonchunhyang University, while Keimyung College of Culture was selected as the university in charge of the 'Technical Officer Training Project.'
The SME Contract Departments open degree programs at universities and support degree acquisition for current SME employees or prospective hires. This program nurtures talent through a work-first-then-study approach, supporting two years per course from associate degrees to doctorates, cultivating them as core personnel for companies.
In the case of technical officers, systematic training of technical personnel required on-site is conducted through a linked four-year education program consisting of two years at vocational high school and two years at a junior college.
Each university in charge will go through preparation processes such as designing educational programs, building educational infrastructure, and recruiting students, and plans to open and operate courses starting in September. Students, SMEs, current SME employees, or prospective hires wishing to participate can apply according to the recruitment guidelines of each university in charge.
Kim Woo-jung, Director of Regional Enterprise Policy at the Ministry, said, "The demand and importance of workforce in new industries and new technologies are expected to increase further," adding, "We hope that the talent development at the newly selected SME workforce training universities will contribute to creating youth jobs in the region and alleviating workforce shortages."
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