South Korean giant Samsung stated on January 28, 2014 that it is dropping its extremely criticized plans to introduce a new recruitment path which would favor Seoul’s top-tier universities. According to the new hiring method, universities would have allowed to recommend students as prospective applicants.
The idea was to hire students with a variety of skills which are not proven by traditional qualifications, including English scores. However, the plan was severely criticized as the university recommended quotas were not distributed evenly. Some thought that the new plan might create a new university ranking system, which would be based on the number of candidates that they can recommend to the country’s tech giant.
Rhee In-yong, the president of the corporate communications team at Samsung Group said, ?There were unexpected controversies about the supposed university rankings and regional discrimination?. Rhee went on to say that under such circumstances, they decided it would be difficult for them to operate the new system.
Samsung previously announced in January 2014 that it would overhaul the recruitment system in order to reduce unnecessary social costs which are related to the Samsung Aptitude Test (SSAT). Initially, Samsung allowed everyone meeting the minimum qualification to take the test, without prior resume screening. More than 200,000 people took the test and put a considerable financial burden on the company and applicants.
Photo Credits: WSJ
