Over 10,000 Graduates and 85% Employment Rate
Full Curriculum Revamp to Focus on AI This Year
More Than 170 Companies Offer Hiring Preferences
On December 18, Samsung held the 13th graduation ceremony at the SSAFY (Samsung Software & AI Academy for Youth) Seoul Campus in Gangnam, Seoul. The event was attended by Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Younghoon, Reform Party lawmaker Lee Junseok, Park Seunghee, President of Corporate Relations at Samsung Electronics, along with more than 100 graduates and their families.
Since the launch of its first cohort in 2018, SSAFY has seen a total of 10,125 graduates through its 12th cohort. Of these, 8,566 have found employment, resulting in an employment rate of approximately 85%. The number of companies hiring SSAFY graduates has reached 2,355, and more than 170 companies offer preferential hiring to SSAFY alumni.
To contribute to nurturing AI talent at the national level, Samsung fully revamped the SSAFY curriculum to focus on AI (Artificial Intelligence) starting this year. In line with the growing trend of AI transformation (AX) across all industries, Samsung has strengthened its educational system and infrastructure so that trainees can acquire the AI skills required in the workplace.
Out of the annual 1,725 training hours, 1,025 hours are now dedicated to AI education, and eight new AI courses have been introduced. Leading AI professors from key Korean universities, including KAIST, Seoul National University, and Yonsei University, participated in designing the curriculum. Trainees develop their practical skills through basic and intermediate courses in the first semester, followed by AI hands-on workshops and team projects in the second semester.
On December 2nd, the 13th batch of trainees at SSAFY Seoul Campus are taking a commemorative photo after their project presentation. Samsung Electronics.
Industry-linked projects are also underway in collaboration with companies such as Kakao Pay and Toonsquare. Samsung is continuously expanding these industry-linked projects, while also systematically strengthening AI ethics and security education.
SSAFY has changed its program name from "Samsung Software Academy for Youth" to "Samsung Software & AI Academy for Youth," and has established the "SSAFY AI Portal," an online self-directed learning platform. Through this portal, trainees can access AI lectures, expert special lectures, and utilize GPUs and generative AI tools for hands-on learning.
Samsung is collaborating with AI specialist company Upstage to develop practical training content, and is enhancing trainees' job readiness through education on generative AI utilization and AI model development. The faculty provides AI education not only to trainees, but also to instructors and staff members.
All SSAFY training is provided free of charge, and trainees receive a monthly educational support grant of 1 million won. The program also supports employment through job fairs, a career support center, and mentoring from employees of Samsung affiliates.
As Samsung's flagship CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) program, SSAFY contributes to strengthening youth employment competitiveness and expanding the foundation of the domestic AI and software ecosystem. Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Younghoon stated, "The role of software and AI talent is extremely important for Korea to become one of the top three AI powers in the world," and added, "The Ministry of Employment and Labor will continue to support outstanding talent development programs like SSAFY through various initiatives such as K-Digital Training."
Park Seunghee, President of Corporate Relations at Samsung Electronics, said, "Many companies are accelerating their business transformation toward AI," and encouraged, "I hope you will seize the opportunities of the AI era."
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