Samsung hires ex-Yogiyo CEO to lead online sales as rivals axe jobs

Samsung Electronics Co. has hired Kang Shin-bong, former chief executive of Yogiyo, South Korea’s second-largest food delivery platform, to lead the tech giant’s online sales and marketing.

Samsung, the world’s largest memory chip and smartphone maker, recently named Kang to head its newly established Direct to Consumer (D2C) Center under the company’s Global Marketing division.

As vice president, he will lead Samsung’s efforts to strengthen its brand value via direct online sales channels, including Samsung.com.

Having studied business administration at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Kang previously worked as German delivery firm Delivery Hero SE’s Korean office head. He also worked for eBay Inc.

Yogiyo is Korea’s No. 2 delivery app operator, controlling about a fifth of the local delivery service market, after dominant market leader Baedal Minjok, or Baemin.

The hiring comes at a time when Big Tech companies are engaged in massive job cuts to brace for worsening economic conditions.

Meta Platforms Inc. said in November it would cut more than 11,000 jobs, or 13% of its workforce, as the Facebook parent doubles down on its new businesses amid a crumbling advertising market and decades-high inflation.

Earlier this year, Amazon said it plans to cut more than 18,000 jobs, the largest number in the firm’s history, as it battles to save costs.

Microsoft and Intel are also said to be working on job cuts.

RECRUITMENT FAIRS IN US, SINGAPORE

Next month, Samsung is heading to the US and Singapore to scout semiconductor research and development talent amid an intensifying recruitment war.

The recruitment is targeting semiconductor experts with work experience at chipmakers such as Intel and Qualcomm and those who worked at Google and Amazon, industry sources said.

Samsung is also considering opening semiconductor-related courses at universities, including the University of Texas at Austin, near its US foundry plant, on condition that students join Samsung after graduation.

If the plan proves successful, it will expand the program to India and China, industry officials said.

Samsung has been aggressively recruiting semiconductor talent in recent years as Korea’s chip industry has been reeling from a lack of skilled manpower as the country scrambles for semiconductor supremacy.

“Now is a good time to hire excellent talent with years of work experience as well as deep understanding of R&D projects,” said a Samsung official. “We’ll spare no efforts and money to hire talented people, although we are also tightening our belts to save costs.”

Samsung said in December it is drastically cutting costs while maintaining heavy spending on R&D projects and talent recruitment to keep ahead of its rivals.

S-CLASS TALENT

Samsung has been actively hiring top-tier industry experts and classified them as “S-level” talent across its entire business lines.

Hwang Chang-gyu, former Samsung Electronics CEO and a legend within Korea’s semiconductor industry, came from Intel. Chin Dae-je, another ex-Samsung CEO who helped shape the company into what it is now, previously worked for IBM.

According to Samsung, nine of 17 incumbent presidents, or 52.9% of them, are from outside the company, while the others climbed up the corporate ladder to take the top posts.

In May 2022, Samsung hired Yoon Seok-min, chief researcher in charge of new product development at Lam Research, a US chip equipment maker, and appointed him as vice president of equipment development at Samsung.

More recently, five C-suite executives who were promoted during the year-end personnel reshuffle in December also came from outside the company.

They are Lee Young-hee, vice president of Samsung’s Global Marketing Center; Jeon Kyung-hoon, chief technology officer at the Device eXperience (DX) division; Park Yong-in, the LSI business chief; Lee Won-jin, the Mobile eXperience (MX) division service team head; and Seung Hyun-joon, Samsung’s global R&D cooperation chief.

Write to Ji-Eun Jeong, Jeong-Soo Hwang and Sungsu Bae at jeong@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.