Samsung Group, South Korea’s top conglomerate, announced Sunday that its official recruitment in the latter half of this year will start Monday, with 20 affiliates joining the massive hiring drive.

The key affiliates include Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display, Samsung Biologics, Samsung SDS and Samsung SDI, among others.

Applicants are required to submit their credentials via Samsung’s official recruitment website from Sept. 11 to 18. The months-long process includes a job alignment assessment in September, an aptitude test in October and final interviews in November.

“Samsung was the pioneer in introducing open recruitment in Korea in 1957. We remain the only major conglomerate in the nation to consistently maintain this practice, ensuring fairness in employment and nurturing exceptional talent,” said a Samsung official.

For decades, the company has launched several initiatives to hire based on merit alone, avoiding biases against gender, education, nationality or religion. In 1993, Samsung initiated a recruitment program specifically for college-educated women and, by 1995, removed education as a hiring criterion.

More recently in August, affiliates like Samsung Electronics and Samsung Display updated their hiring guidelines to accommodate international researchers.

The official posited that Samsung's commitment goes beyond recruitment. They have operated training programs, most prominently the Samsung Software Academy For Youth, a tuition-free, year-long course in software development, that aims to bridge educational and professional fields.

"Our objectives are more than mere hiring numbers. It's about equipping the younger generation with the right skills and ensuring their professional growth," the official added.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong has consistently championed equal hiring opportunities for young individuals.

"Young tech professionals are the driving force of competitiveness in manufacturing and innovation. Our support for them always remains strong," he said during a visit to Gumi Electronic Technical High School in March.

Back in 2018, Samsung announced plans to hire 40,000 people over the following three years. After achieving the goal as planned, the group set another goal of hiring 80,000 people over the course of five years.

As of June this year, there were 124,070 employees across Samsung companies in Korea alone, almost 20 percent up from 103,000 employees in 2018.