HD Hyundai Group’s shipbuilding subsidiary and Hanwha Ocean have launched a large-scale talent recruitment drive, aiming to fill the talent gap caused by the industry’s prolonged downturn and thereby comprehensively enhance competitiveness in production, design, R&D, and other fields.
According to South Korean media reports, HD Hyundai will begin its first-half recruitment drive at the group level before March 24, with major shipbuilding subsidiaries such as HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Samho participating.
By 2029, HD Hyundai plans to add more than 10,000 jobs across 19 subsidiaries in sectors such as shipbuilding, construction machinery and energy. Therefore, it is expected that the recruitment scale will reach three digits in the first half of this year.
HD Hyundai stated that the recruitment positions cover a wide range of fields, including design, production management, sales, business support, as well as digital domains such as big data and artificial intelligence (AI).
By department, HD KSOE will subdivide its ship equipment quality/delivery schedule management, commissioning, and after-sales service departments this year; HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will organize by shipbuilding, naval vessels and engine machinery departments; while HD Hyundai Samho will conduct recruitment across nine departments including design, environment/energy, and quality.
In addition to HD Hyundai, Hanwha Ocean announced it will complete its new employee recruitment for the first half of the year by March 31. Hanwha Ocean has abolished its three-month internship-to-regular-employee conversion system for the second half of 2025. The company has also decided to eliminate this internship system in 2026.
Hanwha Ocean’s recruitment positions include: Design, Sales/Project Management/Procurement, AX, R&D, Business Support, etc. Riding the wave of the shipbuilding industry’s recovery, Hanwha Ocean’s hiring scale for the first half of this year is expected to exceed last year’s.
It is worth noting that AX is a newly established division within Hanwha Ocean for 2026. According to records, AX is an internal strategic term within the Hanwha Group: AX = Automation + AI + Digital Transformation, representing the intelligent shipbuilding technology division.
Hanwha Ocean is currently conducting a large-scale recruitment drive for talent in AI, robotics, automation development and production, and intelligent design. This initiative stems from the trends of digital transformation and intensifying competition in shipbuilding technology.
South Korea’s shipbuilding industry analysis indicates that the large-scale recruitment drive by HD Hyundai and Hanwha Ocean aims not only to enhance shipbuilding capabilities but also to advance digitalization and AI technology development by selecting technical talent, thereby further boosting competitiveness.
South Korean industry insiders also noted: “With the surge in ship orders, staffing for core positions in the shipbuilding sector has become more urgent than in previous years. Unlike he period of structural adjustment, the growth in orders for high-value-added vessel types requires a large number of specialized professionals, and the demand for manpower will remain stable in the short term.”