Chip boom reshapes children's career dreams

The booming semiconductor industry is reshaping not only the job market but also children's career aspirations, as soaring demand driven by AI fuels growing interest in chipmaking among students, parents and educators alike.

One sign of the trend can be found at an interactive semiconductor laboratory at KidZania Seoul — a children's edutainment park in Songpa District, southern Seoul — where children can role-play as semiconductor engineers.

Opened on June 28 by semiconductor manufacturer Tokyo Electron, the facility lets children experience four major chipmaking processes — photolithography, etching, cleaning and deposition — through interactive games. Wearing cleanroom suits and passing through an air shower, participants simulate the work of semiconductor engineers while learning how chips power smartphones, AI, autonomous vehicles and robotics.

The facility is part of Tokyo Electron's efforts to cultivate future semiconductor talent by making chip technology more accessible to children. Beginning in September, it will also host Dream Camp, a career exploration program for children from underprivileged backgrounds.

“Children are often drawn to the experience after seeing our staff wearing cleanroom suits and safety goggles,” a Tokyo Electron Korea representative said. “Many parents who are already interested in semiconductors also encourage their children to participate.”

The growing enthusiasm extends beyond corporate experience centers.

The annual Korea Science Festival, organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT, has also seen rising interest in semiconductor-related programs this year. Earlier events held in Gyeonggi, Busan and Daejeon attracted large numbers of elementary school students ahead of the festival's main event in Jeonju this October.

Among the most popular attractions was the AI Semiconductor Dream Bus, an education center funded by SK hynix through the Gyeonggi Community Chest of Korea and operated by Seedcoop, a youth education cooperative.

People waited more than an hour to enter the center, which looks like a bus, at the Korea Science Festival held at Kintex in Ilsan District, Goyang, Gyeonggi. Inside, children examined life-size semiconductor models — each about the size of a grain of rice — under microscopes while learning about careers in semiconductor research.

Companies say the programs are designed to cultivate future engineers at a time of intensifying global competition for semiconductor talent while also familiarizing children with their brands from an early age.

The industry's growing appeal is also reshaping university admissions.

Students admitted to employment-linked semiconductor departments at Seoul universities through jeongsi — Korea's regular university admissions track based largely on the College Scholastic Ability Test — recorded an average percentile score of 96.2 for the 2026 admissions cycle according to the cram school franchise Jongro Academy. That exceeded the average score of admitted students at Seoul National University College of Natural Sciences, at 95.8, and was comparable to the average admission score for regional medical schools, at 97.2.

The semiconductor industry has also become one of the most sought after destinations for job seekers.

SK hynix ranked as the most desirable employer, followed by Samsung Electronics, according to a survey published in June by JobKorea.

The financial rewards have also attracted attention.

Among the 3,287 job seekers surveyed for the JobKorea report, 32 percent cited salaries and performance bonuses as the main reason for their choice, while 15 percent pointed to employee benefits.

Industry sources expect employees in Samsung Electronics' memory business division to receive a combined 600 million won to 700 million won ($420,000 to $490,000) per person early next year through a newly introduced Special Management Performance Bonus — a long-term incentive paid entirely in company stock and funded from 10.5 percent of business performance — and the Overall Performance Incentive, an annual bonus paid when business units exceed profit targets. Employees at SK hynix are also expected to receive performance bonuses of around 700 million won each.

BY KIM KYUNG-MI [[email protected]]