Chip industry employees 'highly priced' in the marriage market
"In the past, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics employees were often in the group of B+ or A- candidates, but now they are closer to A+. A+ traditionally includes doctors, lawyers, high-income professionals, people from extremely wealthy families," Son Dong-gyu, CEO of matchmaking company Bien Aller, told Reuters.
"People still like traditional professions like doctors, lawyers, dentists," said matchmaking consultant Lee Sung-mi of Sunoo company. "But when the candidate was introduced to the memory chip manufacturer SK Hynix, customers were also surprised and excited."
Many matchmaking companies increase "attractive points" for chip company employees due to the expectation that they will receive large income from the AI fever. According to Yonhap, Sunoo increased the "partner attractiveness" for Samsung Electronics employees from 84 to 87. This index evaluates the suitability for marriage based on factors such as socio-economic status, appearance, and family background.
"A partner's attractiveness index rarely changes, so a three-point increase is unusual. Samsung Electronics employees are currently rated the same as lawyers, who score 90 points," a Sunoo employee told Korea JoongAng Daily, adding that many matchmakers feel the actual increase could be up to 10 points.
The index of SK Hynix employees has not been officially adjusted, but also tends to increase. "The rejection rate of match proposals is decreasing, while the number of successful matches is increasing," Sunoo staff said.
According to Reuters, the AI fever is changing the landscape of the global semiconductor industry, turning memory chips from common goods into essential components in the infrastructure that operates applications such as ChatGPT and other advanced AI models. SK Hynix focuses on memory chips, while Samsung produces both logic chips and consumer electronics such as smartphones and TVs.
SK Hynix and Samsung are currently the two most valuable listed companies in Korea. Samsung has been leading since 2000, but on June 22, SK Hynix shares increased by 5.6%, raising the company's capitalization to 2.08 million billion won (1,350 billion USD), surpassing its rival. Samsung Electronics shares then decreased by 0.14%, bringing the capitalization to 2.06 million billion won, and now they have regained the number one position.
Last month, Samsung reached a wage agreement with the union, in which some chip division employees could receive performance bonuses of up to 640 million won ($415,000). According to the Financial Times, the one-year bonus of SK Hynix employees can be equally high. For comparison, the average income of Korean workers in 2024 is 45 million won (29,150 USD).
"Lower-level memory chip employees can receive more money than my department manager," a mid-level employee at Samsung shared on the Financial Times.
Park, a worker on SK Hynix's production line, said the status of jobs has changed rapidly. "Two years ago, leaving SK Hynix for Kia's production line made everyone jealous. Now, the situation is the opposite," he told Korea Herald.
Professor Lee Hyung-min from the Department of Semiconductor Engineering - Korea University said that chips are of great importance to the Korean economy, contributing more than 40% of export turnover.
In addition to impacting the marriage market, the industry's development also changes educational paths. Some students aim for vocational school, since many positions in chip factories only require a high school diploma. "Many of my friends are jealous of me," said Jung Sung-chan, a student at Pyeongtaek Meister High School, after receiving a job offer from Samsung Electronics.
Many career counselors, lecturers and students also said they sense changes in universities. Park Jun-young, a former Samsung Electronics employee who now works as a career consultant, assessed that the competition for Samsung and SK Hynix is becoming "fierce".
According to Jongro Academy, the chip engineering program implemented by Korea University in cooperation with SK Hynix from 2021 achieved a record high benchmark score this year. Koo Bon-ho, a first-year student in the program, said this is a safe, long-term job. "Compared to my friends, I feel quite secure about my job prospects," Koo said.
"More and more people believe that high salaries and bonuses help employees in the semiconductor industry build a stable life faster, and jobs in the industry are also considered to have a low risk of being replaced by AI," an employee of Gayeon matchmaking company told Korea JoongAng Daily. This person further shared that people in the company also often mention the boom of the semiconductor industry.
According to matchmaking consultant Lee Sung-mi, the attractiveness and prosperity of the chip industry is unlikely to decline in the near future. "Many predict the semiconductor industry to continue its boom cycle for at least the next two to three years," she said. Therefore, employees working in this field will continue to be the most sought after in the marriage market.
Thu Thao compiled