Samsung Electronics plans to hire as many as 1,000 specialized experts in chip design and artificial intelligence by the end of this year, the tech giant said Wednesday.

The company has already employed around 500 experts with master’s degrees and doctorates in semiconductors and AI in the first six months of the year, as part of its preparations for future technologies and businesses.

It is planning to hire 500 more experts as part of accelerating a move towards the future, amid growing uncertainty in the global business environment with the protracting COVID-19 impact and intensifying trade disputes.

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong on Tuesday said, “It is hard to know how this uncertainty will end,” and “There will be no future, if (Samsung) stops,” during a visit to the company’s equipment subsidiary SEMES.

The hiring was included in the 133 trillion won worth investment plan announced in April 2019 for establishing system-on-chip production infrastructure and employing 15,000 engineers dedicated to the field.

In 2018, Samsung also announced a 180 trillion won investment package for AI, 5G and automotive semiconductors as the company’s flagship businesses for the future.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)