Hyosung bucks trend with recruitment drive exclusively for humanities majors

by Joonha Yoo Posted : July 15, 2026, 16:27Updated : July 15, 2026, 16:30
This photo captured from the official webpage of Hyosung show the poster for 2026 College of Humanities recruitment
Courtesy of Hyosung Group
SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - Hyosung Group on Wednesday launched a hiring drive open exclusively to graduates who majored in the arts and humanities.

Job seekers with bachelor's or master's degrees in fields like history, philosophy, aesthetics, and language and literature can apply until July 22.

The move is the first of its kind since the multi-industry conglomerate's founding in 1966, as many of South Korea's major companies are scaling back entry-level recruitment, with new hires increasingly concentrated in fields such as IT and engineering.

Hyosung said the latest drive is intended to bring in candidates with strong humanities backgrounds and language skills. Applicants willing to work at overseas sites will be preferred, and once hired, they will not be restricted to a single job category.

The company cited its heavy reliance on overseas markets, which account for more than 80 percent of sales, as a key reason for seeking candidates with language skills and the ability to work across different markets.

The initiative also reflects chairman Cho Hyun-joon's long-standing emphasis on the importance of humanities education. Cho, who studied in the U.S. and Japan and speaks English, Japanese and Italian, has said in previous interviews that technology alone is not enough to succeed, and that the ability to embrace change and seize the right opportunities comes from the humanities.

Meanwhile, an analysis by hiring platform Catch in December last year found that full-time entry-level job openings at major companies fell 43 percent from a year earlier, from 3,741 to 2,145. The decline continued into this year, with job postings down 45 percent year-on-year as of March.

The trend comes as companies increasingly turn to artificial intelligence (AI) to handle routine tasks once handled by junior employees like research, drafting reports, and basic coding, pushing hiring toward more experienced workers instead.