Samsung Electronics and its affiliates are set to announce an open recruitment of college graduates and soon-to-be graduates this week, maintaining a large-scale hiring of entry-level workers amid the pandemic in South Korea.

According to industry sources on Sunday, Samsung Electronics and three other affiliates – Samsung Display, Samsung SDI and Samsung Electro-Mechanics – will release their recruitment announcements soon.

Some of the affiliates are holding online job fairs amid the protracted COVID-19 pandemic.

Samsung traditionally hires undergraduates for entry-level positions through a pan-group recruitment process in the spring or fall.

Applicants go through a three-stage recruitment process that includes a document screening, a paper-based aptitude test and a face-to-face interview.

Samsung held the first-ever online aptitude test, called Global Samsung Aptitude Test, due to the pandemic last year. The test will also be conducted online this year.

Samsung declines to reveal the number of applications it receives and entry-level employees it hires each year.

As of last year, the total number of Samsung Electronics employees stood at 109,490.

Jailed Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong has emphasized that Samsung should continue making investments and create new jobs this year, regardless of the leader’s situation in January.

Samsung remains the only local conglomerate to continue hiring entry-level employees through the annual recruitment system.

Due to the pandemic impact, LG stopped its annual hiring last year, and started hiring 70 percent of entry-level workers through internships.

Earlier than others, Hyundai Motor Group abandoned large-scale recruitment in 2019.

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