Computer Skills Still Strong in the AI Era... "Data Processing Ability Remains Important Even in the AI Era"

[Financial News] A survey found that the No. 1 and No. 2 national technical qualifications held by young people newly hired at South Korea's top 500 listed companies were both in computer skills.
Based on data from the Korea Employment Information Service on national technical qualifications and employment insurance records, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry analyzed the certification status of 65,743 young workers aged 18 to 34 who joined the country's top 500 listed companies by net income in 2024. Among 23,055 young job seekers who held national technical qualifications, 9,780, or 42.4%, had obtained one of the 11 national technical qualifications administered by the KCCI. In the individual ranking, Computer Specialist in Spreadsheet & Database Class-I, with 5,473 holders, and Computer Specialist in Spreadsheet & Database Level-II, with 3,967, took first and second place, respectively. Forklift operator certification ranked third with 1,891 holders.
The same trend appeared in the "2026 National Technical Qualification Statistical Yearbook" released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea. Of the 2,294,091 total examinees for national technical qualification tests in 2025, including 2,271,762 for the written exam track and 18,729 for the process evaluation track, the most popular certification was Computer Specialist in Spreadsheet & Database Level-II, with 247,841 examinees. It was followed by Computer Specialist in Spreadsheet & Database Class-I, with 151,464, forklift operator certification with 113,016, Engineer Industrial Safety with 92,265, and Craftsman Electrician with 67,010.
The KCCI also said the trend is rising over time. Comparing the average annual number of written exam takers before the pandemic, from 2016 to 2019, with the period after it, from 2022 to 2025, the number of applicants for Computer Specialist in Spreadsheet & Database Class-I rose 23.4% from an annual average of 149,000 to 184,000. The number of Level-II applicants also increased by 21.3%.
The KCCI explained why computer skills remain popular in the AI era, saying, "Although this may seem like an era in which generative AI will handle all tasks, in real work environments, data insight and basic skills that organize and verify data in the correct structure determine the results of AI use."
Jeong Dong-yeol, a professor at Tech University of Korea and vice president of the Korean Society for Vocational Qualifications, said, "No matter how impressive AI's output may be, it is up to people to judge whether the underlying data is properly structured and whether the flow is logical." He added, "When someone who can see through the structure and flow of data works with AI, productivity and the quality of the output change completely. Experience in handling and verifying data directly is the starting point."
[email protected] Jo Eun-hyo Reporter