Brains for rent

KOREA: Small businesses in Korea are struggling to find highly educated employees.The candidates are out there, but they prefer to work for big organizations. Now the Korean government is stepping in to help.

University graduates with a Master’s degree or PhD who accept work at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often quit within a year, their bosses complain. The specialists are drawn to the higher salary and prestige of working for a large company or for the government. And there are other attractive aspects of working for a big company: it is easier for these employees to get bank loans. It may even improve their marriage chances.   

Specialists are drawn to the higher salary and prestige of working for a large company or for the government. 

But as small companies are often the drivers of innovation, Korea’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy now plans to hire 200 scientists and researchers at state-run institutes such as the Korean Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), and then send the specialists to work in selected small firms. Next year, another 1,000 specialists will be hired on this programme.

The ministry will pay 70 per cent of the employees' salary for at least three years.  “This will help SMEs hone global competitiveness, as they have lacked qualified people in the R&D sector,'' Knowledge Economy Minister Choi Kyung-hwan told The Korea Times.