Samsung's software academy supports jobseekers with training

By Nam Hyun-woo

Samsung Group announced Thursday that the number of students trained through its software academy program has surpassed 11,000, supporting their efforts to secure employment as software developers.

Samsung announced that it held an admission ceremony for the 13th cohort of students in the Samsung Software Academy for Youth (SSAFY) on Jan. 24, at its five campuses nationwide.

Around 100 students attended the ceremony at the Seoul Campus in Gangnam District, while more than 900 students participated online from the campuses in Daejeon, Gwangju, Busan-Ulsan and Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province.

Vice Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Min-seok, Samsung Electronics President Park Seung-hee and a number of lawmakers also attended the ceremony.

Samsung Electronics CEO Han Jong-hee stated in a video message that he is fully confident that a year at SSAFY will unlock the full potential of the participants. He also expressed his hope that all participants will become pioneers in the era of artificial intelligence (AI).

SSAFY was launched in December 2018 as part of Samsung Group's corporate social responsibility program. The academy recruits two groups of students annually, providing training at its five campuses. With the addition of the latest 13th cohort, SSAFY has offered training opportunities to approximately 11,000 young individuals to date.

The program offers 1,600 hours of intensive training over the course of one year, including daily sessions and collaborative projects among students. The curriculum is designed to train software developers with skills that are immediately applicable in the workplace. The training is free of charge, and each student receives a monthly stipend of 1 million won ($693).

Among the 8,000 graduates from the first to 10 cohorts, approximately 84 percent have secured jobs at 1,700 companies, including Samsung Electronics, Coupang, LG Uplus, Hyundai Mobis and several promising startups.

As the number of SSAFY graduates grows, Samsung announced that over 170 companies are now officially offering advantages to jobseekers who have completed the program.

Since 2023, SSAFY has partnered with Korea’s five major banks — Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup — to collaborate on cultivating fintech software skills.

Over the past two years, the banks have donated a total of 5 billion won to SSAFY, while their employees have participated as mentors in finance-specific projects, offering guidance to help students develop expertise in the financial sector.

So far, Samsung has been operating the SSAFY initiative for university and college graduates, but has expanded the program to include graduates of Korea's Meister high schools starting with the 13th cohort. Meister high schools are specialized vocational institutions with curricula tailored to specific industrial sectors.

For these students, SSAFY offers a pre-admission program, where software developers who began their careers as high school graduates provide special lectures on AI and algorithms, along with mentoring sessions.

An official at Samsung Group stated that the decision to expand the program was made to align SSAFY’s objectives with the government’s plan to expand Meister high schools and enhance support for graduates in their job-seeking efforts. Currently, there are 54 Meister high schools in Korea, with the number expected to increase to 65 by 2027.

“I hope all of you will grow into individuals who not only possess software skills but also have problem-solving abilities and creativity through SSAFY,” Vice Minister Kim said during the event.