SK hynix Removes Education Requirement, Sparking Debate Between "Merit-Based Hiring" and "Still Just High Credentials"

[Financial News] As SK hynix has decided to remove education restrictions from its hiring of new employees, both optimism and skepticism are emerging online. Some see it as a shift toward merit-based recruitment, while others say the actual hiring results are unlikely to change.
According to the industry on the 18th, SK hynix deleted education requirements such as "Applicants must hold at least a four-year bachelor's degree" from its rolling recruitment notice for new employees, which began the previous day. The company said it would focus on applicants' experience, job skills, and fit with its corporate culture.

This hiring round will recruit in the triple digits for key roles, including Next-Generation Semiconductor Design, and applications will be accepted until the 23rd. Online, opinions were divided over whether the change in hiring standards at major companies could ease the long-standing preference for school prestige.
Positive reactions focused on the argument that education level and job performance do not always match. One internet user said, "You have to see someone work to know," adding, "Good grades and credentials do not necessarily mean someone works well, and lazy people who do nothing are the same everywhere."

Another user, who said they had worked at a Big Tech company overseas, also complained, "You don't need an MBA, a Ph.D., or a prestigious university degree for anything," and added, "I realized work sense has nothing to do with school prestige, and I have seen too many useless people whose college diploma was the peak of their lives."

Some also linked the move to the talent philosophy emphasized by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. Chey recently referred to three key "muscles": a "thinking muscle" for asking questions on one's own, an "adaptation muscle" for responding to environmental change, and an "empathy muscle" for collaboration. One internet user said, "Even Elon Musk does not look at education," and praised Chey, saying, "Education is useless, and Chairman Chey's foresight is amazing."
On the other hand, some argued that it remains to be seen whether removing the education requirement will actually change hiring outcomes. Their point was that even if the entry threshold is lowered, applicants with higher education and stronger credentials may still have the advantage in the final selection.
One user said, "Companies have been doing blind recruitment for a very long time, but in the end, the people they hire are highly educated and highly credentialed," adding, "Because the effort and process of life are different, it inevitably shows in interviews, and you cannot beat high-credential candidates in the intelligent parts, like expressing yourself through speech and writing." Another opinion was, "They said they would not look at education, not that they would not look at ability."
There were also comments that it is difficult to completely hide education information during the screening process. One user wrote, "You can tell more than 90% just by reading the self-introduction," and added, "Even by looking at school records and special activity notes, you can tell whether someone went to a special-purpose high school, an autonomous private high school, or a regular rural high school." Another user pointed out the limits of blind recruitment, saying, "If you look at the resume, you can tell even if the school is not written down."
Some also said evaluation methods should differ by job type. Another user noted, "For research positions, there are things that can only be learned at university, so education is considered. For production jobs, education does not really matter," drawing a distinction between research and manufacturing roles.
There were also claims that similar systems had been tried in the past. One user cited another major company and said it was "a system introduced decades ago and then quietly disappeared."


hsg@fnnews.com Han Seung-gon Reporter