As of January 2026, the employment rate for those 15+ was 61.0%, and 69.2% for the 15–64 group — up 0.4 percentage points year on year. Unemployment also rose 0.4pp to 4.1%, deepening the mismatch between candidates and firms.

As AI takes over execution, humans shift to problem framing, tool orchestration, and stakeholder communication — the ‘communicating project manager’ rising above the ‘coding genius’.

Firms judge that hard skills can be supplemented by AI, and evaluate collaboration, communication, and conflict resolution as core signals. Organisational fit (personality, cooperation, responsibility) has ranked #1 for three years running (67%).

With ‘human-in-the-loop’, the ability to critically verify AI outputs and make the final call has become a decisive competency.

Samsung is pivoting to ‘lifestyle innovation’ that emphasises the emotional connection between technology and people. AI is defined as a tool that amplifies emotional intelligence (EI) and human imagination (HI).

Vice-Chair Jun Young-hyun frames ‘customer trust’ as the central keyword. In hiring, the demand is not for technical achievements but for the detail of communication that persuades and elicits empathy.

Alongside 2026 business rebalancing, SK prioritises on-the-ground problem solving and the One Team spirit. Skill-based hiring is being reinforced.

Behavioural Event Interviews ask questions like ‘what did you actually do to persuade a colleague?’ to measure negotiation and conflict-resolution ability.

SK hynix favours ‘people who collaborate across boundaries’, and Chairman Chey Tae-won's ‘AI value-chain leadership’ requires strategic collaboration with global partners.

Hyundai plans to hire 80,000 people domestically by 2026, seeking talent that shares the value of ‘Progress for Humanity’.

Chairman Chung Eui-sun emphasises rapid, on-site communication for agile decision-making. Removing silos and information bottlenecks is central.

The SDV (software-defined vehicle) transition demands communication skills that bridge the technical vocabulary of hardware and software roles.

① Redefine communication for the AI era — pair persuasive delivery with critical perspective.

② Structured, data-based feedback — argue from data and AI analysis rather than intuition.

③ Prove emotional intelligence and humanity — express ethics, empathy, and authenticity consistently across résumé and interview.

④ Adopt a PM mindset — regardless of role, take the lead in defining problems, coordinating people, communicating, and managing outcomes.

Samsung's emotional intelligence, SK's One Team spirit, and Hyundai's communication all point to the same place. The 2026 talent is one who wields AI as a powerful amplifier while retaining the deeply human skill of moving people in the decisive moment.