The desire of the Chinese memory manufacturer CXMT to catch up and surpass its South Korean competitors is also expressed in the hunt for valuable personnel. According to one investigation, the company poached 27 experienced engineers from South Korea, but parted ways with most of them soon after acquiring the necessary technological knowledge.
Image Source: CXMT
As explained Business Korearepresentatives of the South Korean People Power party recently published the results of their own investigation into the “headhunting” that the Chinese CXMT allegedly carried out in the South Korean labor market, poaching experienced engineers from Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. At least 27 specialists went this route, losing their jobs both in the original South Korean companies and subsequently in CXMT itself.
It is noted that the authors of the investigation used data from the social network LinkedIn and other sources to track the career paths of individual semiconductor industry specialists. On average, 27 “defectors” managed to work at Samsung and SK hynix for 15.4 years, but among them there were also those who held high positions in these South Korean companies for more than 20 years.
Most of the specialists in this group were involved in the development of microcircuits – eight people. Another seven were responsible for the integration of technological processes in semiconductor manufacturing. Next in descending order are four specialists in technological processes and equipment and another four in identifying and analyzing defects. Two people were involved in advanced packaging technologies, and one manager was involved in enterprise planning and infrastructure development.
According to the authors of the investigation, the efforts of Chinese employers were aimed at attracting a full-fledged team of specialists from South Korea, who together could organize almost full-fledged semiconductor production, relying on their previous experience. Of the 27 South Korean engineers hired, only one is currently working at CXMT, while the rest have changed jobs. On average, they worked at CXMT for no more than 2.9 years.
All this allows the authors of the report to assume that the ultimate goal of luring South Korean specialists was to obtain from them technological knowledge that CXMT can use even after they leave the company. Some of the South Korean specialists who left CXMT remained to work in China, but in other companies. Among them are Huawei, SMIC and HiSilicon, which is the processor development division of Huawei.
At the same time, Chinese recruiters offered South Korean specialists to double their salaries, provide comfortable housing, and pay for education for their children before they moved. The trajectory of the migration itself was also confusing in most cases: only nine people moved from South Korean companies directly to CXMT within six months of leaving. Another 15 specialists first got jobs in various companies, one way or another connected with CXMT, and only then moved on to the final employer. During this migration process, some of them worked in third countries or carried out research in academic institutions.
CXMT did not publicly hide the work experience of three of its five key new employees at Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology. However, it cannot be said that the South Korean authorities are not trying to combat industrial espionage and brain drain. Last month, changes were made to national legislation that allow citizens accused of such activities to be subject to penalties of up to 30 years in prison. Back in 2024, charges of transferring technological secrets in the interests of CXMT were brought against a group of 10 former Samsung Electronics engineers. The latter estimated its material damage at $3.7 billion.
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