[Editorial] SK hynix's experiment to remove education requirements from hiring

SK hynix announced on the 17th that it will abolish education requirements when hiring new employees. The company said it will remove qualifications such as "applicants must hold at least a four-year bachelor's degree" from its job postings. SK hynix explained that the move is intended to identify talent by placing the highest priority on job performance and growth potential, in line with a changing environment in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). The company is set to begin open recruitment soon, and anyone may apply if their experience, job skills and fit with the corporate culture match the position.
South Korea places an unusually strong emphasis on education and academic pedigree. On the positive side, this reflects a high regard for learning, but it has also created a culture overly fixated on entering college. Unless one graduates from university, it is difficult to gain social recognition, and because companies tend to hire mainly college graduates, everyone tries hard to get into a four-year university.
South Korea's college enrollment rate was only 11.4 percent in 1980, but it rose to 76.3 percent last year. In the United States, it is just over 60 percent, while Germany's rate is a little above 50 percent. Of course, one cannot say that university graduates and high school graduates have the same abilities. But creativity and potential do not necessarily improve simply because a person receives a higher level of education.
In that sense, SK hynix's decision to abolish education requirements is bold and experimental. Of course, it is impossible to know what share of successful applicants will be high school graduates or people with even less formal education. If the hiring process tests creativity rather than the level of knowledge acquired in college, then even high school graduates or those with less education could be selected. The share of hires from such groups could also turn out to be very low.
SK hynix's move is also linked to the capabilities of future talent that Chey has emphasized. He has highlighted the "three muscles" of future talent: a "thinking muscle" that asks questions and gets to the heart of issues, an "adaptation muscle" that responds quickly to new technological changes, and an "empathy muscle" that understands diversity and collaborates flexibly.
The capabilities Chey describes place greater value on innate creativity than on learning ability. The problem with South Korea's education system is that it focuses on rote learning rather than discovering and nurturing creativity. The college entrance system is no different. Students who are good at memorizing textbooks and workbooks and solving problems quickly receive higher scores and go on to better universities.
Whether SK hynix can truly break this mold and trigger a small revolution in education remains to be seen. If the results show that the academic prestige and educational credentials once favored by employers have been shattered, the practice could spread to other companies. Some firms have already abolished education requirements, and they were removed from civil service exams long ago.
More important is changing the social atmosphere that obsesses over academic credentials in the first place. It is a distorted culture that discriminates between high school and college graduates and only shows respect to those who attended prestigious universities. Companies may be able to do what the government and society have failed to do. If they put this into practice through substantive hiring, the atmosphere could change quickly.