Job applicants for Samsung Group leave Dankook University High School in Seoul after taking Samsung Group’s recruitment exam, also known as the Global Samsung Aptitude Test (GSAT), on Oct. 20, 2019. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s top conglomerate Samsung Group has decided to delay its traditional spring hiring period indefinitely as the coronavirus outbreak rages on.
The deadline for submitting applications has already been pushed back.
Last year, the group received applications from March 11, starting with job applications for its affiliates in the order of electronics, finance, and other sectors.
According to sources knowledgeable about Samsung’s hiring plans, applicants making it past the first round of the recruiting process will be able to take the so-called Global Samsung Aptitude Test (GSAT) in May, which is a month later than usual.
Samsung is South Korea’s first conglomerate to introduce a groupwide hiring system. In 1995, Samsung adopted the GSAT in an effort to better screen applicants.
The GSAT was normally held nationwide on a Sunday in the second week of April every year. This year, however, it will be difficult to hold the test as originally planned because of the coronavirus outbreak, Samsung said.
Samsung also faces the issue of renting proper spaces to be used as test centers across the country. Each year, more than 50,000 applicants sit for the GSAT.
Samsung Electronics, the flagship business of the group, also decided to indefinitely postpone its software ability test originally scheduled for Feb. 15.
“Further notices will be made as we monitor the coronavirus situation,” the company explained via its official website.
The software ability test assesses the coding ability of job applicants. The test is seen as essential for college applicants since it is reflected in Samsung’s overall recruitment assessment for college graduates.
“While it is difficult for us to proceed with spring recruit applications, we haven’t decided on an exact schedule yet,” Samsung Electronics said.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
