South Korea Faces Deepening Shortage of R&D Talent in Strategic Technologies (Image supported by ChatGPT)
SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean companies are facing a widening shortage of research and development workers, particularly in strategically important technologies such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence, according to a new industry survey released on Monday.
The survey, conducted by the Korea Industrial Technology Association, found that corporate research institutes were short about 15,100 researchers this year, equivalent to 3.6 percent of total R&D staffing.
That shortfall exceeds the overall labor shortage across industry and the broader pool of industrial technology workers, underscoring mounting strains in the country’s innovation pipeline.
Nearly half of the deficit is concentrated in 12 government-designated national strategic technology fields, which account for about 31 percent of corporate research staff but 46 percent of the total shortage.
The largest gaps were reported in semiconductors and displays, artificial intelligence, and advanced biotechnology. In relative terms, shortages were most severe in next-generation nuclear energy, cybersecurity, and advanced robotics and manufacturing.
The shortage becomes more acute at higher levels of education. While bachelor’s degree holders made up the largest number of unfilled positions, the shortage rate rose with academic attainment, reaching nearly 5 percent among Ph.D. researchers.
In strategic technology fields, more than half of missing master’s-level researchers and over 60 percent of Ph.D.-level researchers were in these priority sectors, highlighting a lack of highly specialized talent.
Regional disparities were also pronounced. Companies outside the Seoul metropolitan area reported a significantly higher shortage rate than those in the capital region, with particularly acute gaps in the Honam region, Gangwon Province and Jeju Island.
Despite these pressures, companies plan to hire fewer researchers next year than they did over the past year, a pullback that raises concerns about the sustainability of innovation capacity amid global competition.
Industry officials warned that the mismatch between demand and supply of advanced research talent threatens South Korea’s long-term competitiveness.
They called for stronger collaboration between universities, industry and research institutions, along with more robust policies to train, attract and retain high-level researchers in strategic technologies, where talent shortages increasingly translate into risks to technological leadership.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
