Samsung Group’s 11 business units held a large job fair to hire 1,670 employees for the conglomerates’ subcontractors.

The event, which was held at KINTEX in Ilsan in Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday, came as part of the group’s drive for “shared growth” with suppliers.

Participants included Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI and 158 subcontractors, with the Federation of Korean Industries and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business acted as sponsors.

In particular, 49 companies, which are listed on the stock market as subcontractors of Samsung Group, drew wide interest among about 6,000 jobseekers who visited the fair.

“Many financially healthy enterprises in sectors like electronics, electro-mechanics and construction participated in the fair in a bid to recruit talented figures,” an FKI spokesman said.

Over the past year, Samsung has been devising measures to assist its partner firms’ finance, research and materials procurement.

The nation’s largest conglomerate has pledged a number of measures including a 610 billion won ($540 million) fund, patent rights and improved payment systems to help promote growth among its smaller vendors and suppliers.

The 610 billion won in support will be used mainly for research and development and other costs needed to promote the financial health of the vendors, according to Samsung spokespeople.

More payments were offered in cash, and Samsung affiliates pledged to pay their vendors three times a month, up from the current twice a month.

In the Commission on Shared Growth for Large and Small Companies’ yearly assessment of 56 major enterprises’ policies for co-prosperity with suppliers for 2011, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, POSCO and Samsung Mobile Display were ranked “excellent” in their sectors.

The list of “second-best” groups assessed by the commission included Samsung SDS.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)