S.Korean battery sector scrambles for talented manpower

South Korea’s battery industry has suffered from a talent shortage, especially in the research and development, design as well as process sectors due to the rapid growth in the global electric vehicle market, although cell and materials makers increased their staff by more than 10% this year.

The country’s big three battery makers – LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. and SK On Co. – and the top three producers of cathodes, essential cell materials – EcoPro BM Co., POSCO Chemical Co. and L&F Co. – employed 29,178 staff in total as of end-September, according to their filings to a financial regulator. That compared with 26,582 employees at the end of 2021.

LG Energy, the world’s second-largest battery maker, was the most active in the staff increase, ramping up the number of employees by 1,151.

Those companies and their rivals continued to seek talent. EcoPro Group has been working on the recruitment of experienced staff of some 100 since early this month, for example.

SUSTAINED TALENT SHORTAGE

The battery industry is expected to continue to have trouble with a manpower shortage. The sector was forecast to need some 3,000 workforces including more than 1,000 personnel with master’s and doctor’s degrees as of end-2020, according to Korea Battery Industry Association.

The talent shortage was likely to deepen as the world’s EV market has been expanding faster than earlier expectations, industry sources said.

The global EV market was predicted to grow an average of 22.6% a year by 2027, the state-funded Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said.

“It is extremely difficult to find master’s or doctor’s degree holders with more than five years of experience in the secondary battery industry,” said an official at a battery materials maker. “We will have a bigger problem after 2025 when we complete the construction of new factories and expanded facilities in other countries.”

MANPOWER COMPETITION AGAINST FOREIGN MAKERS

Experienced workforces are hard to train in the short term. The country’s big three cell makers have been developing their talent pools through continuous R&D. Those local companies have been refraining from hiring staff from rivals since a legal dispute between LG Energy and SK Innovation Co., SK On’s parent company, in the US over trade secret infringement and battery-related patent violations.

But competitors in other countries such as China were known to have scouted experienced talents from South Korean battery makers with attractive compensation packages such as high salaries, industry sources in Seoul said. South Korean companies’ pay and other benefits have been lower than those of foreign rivals as most of them were in the red despite heavy investments.

Materials producers signing long-term supply deals with major battery makers faced similar issues. EcoPro BM, South Korea’s No. 1 cathode maker, decided to give about 10 million won ($7,657) in stocks per employee for free in a move to prevent staff from leaving for competitors.

The battery industry is also looking for talent among fresh graduates. Battery and materials manufacturers provide talented college students majoring in related studies with tuition and scholarships to induce them to work for those companies after graduation.

POSCO Chemical in September hired even graduates who majored in humanities and social sciences to train as engineers by teaching them principle theories, production processes and other technologies related to secondary batteries.

Write to Kyung-Min Kang at kkm1026@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.