A completion ceremony for the second group of graduates of Samsung Software Academy for Youth (SSAFY) was held in Seoul’s Multicampus Education Center on June 24th. Due to COVID-19 concerns, Samsung implemented a capacity limit of 50 attendees, with the rest of the graduates attending the ceremony online. Excitement was palpable as 250 graduating attendees from four education centers across the country- Seoul, Daejun, Gwangju and Gumi- joined the virtual event to celebrate their successful completion of the course. Through live-streaming cameras and large screens, trainees and faculties both on-line and off-line congratulated each other and shared their memories in SSAFY.

Minister of Labor and Employment Lee Jae-kap and Samsung Electronics’ President Choi Yoonho also attended the event to recognize students’ hard work with Minister’s Award and Corporate Award.

“I hope SSAFY graduates will use their newfound knowledge and skills to unleash their genius in the ICT field,” said Minister Lee.

“The hard work and passion you have shown throughout the year as a SSAFY trainee will give you confidence and resilience to deal with any challenges you may face in your life time,” Choi said, congratulating the graduates. “I know that these tenacious and bright software developers will make their mark on the global society.”

SSAFY initiated its second round of software training to 500 students in July. Even in the current job market blighted by the pandemic, 180 students are successfully employed to the biggest ICT and Finance conglomerates such as Naver, Kakao, Samsung and much more, before they had even finished the course. Out of the first batch of 500 graduates, who had been enrolled in the yearlong course from December 2018, 350 students are also working in promising, knowledge-based jobs.

“As a Business Administration major, I had no knowledge about software before I joined the course. But now, I can confidently say that I am a logical software developer. SSAFY was a steppingstone for me to advance my career as a developer,” said Gong Hyun-ah, an online-attendee from Gwangju Center.

This year in SSAFY was special, as the in-person SSAFY education was replaced with virtual sessions since February. Samsung responded to the global crisis immediately, revamping the curriculum for remote learning and building a virtual platform to allow two-way interaction between instructors and students. Through the well-designed platform, SSAFY trainees were able to engage in the top-notch software education even amidst the pandemic. Also as part of the COVID-19 measures, SSAFY deployed Samsung’s latest laptops and software kits to replicate the in-person experience and allow students to be immersed in practical training remotely. The items also included health supplements, facemasks and hand sanitizers.

SSAFY, which is part of Samsung’s ambitious plan to vitalize the economy and generate more jobs, aims to provide the young generation with the key competencies for successful employment and expand Korea’s ICT ecosystem at large. Samsung is closely cooperating with the Ministry of Employment and Labor for recruiting and training students and is leveraging the Ministry’s specialties in the job market to operate the program and support students’ careers. In October 2019, Lee Jae-yong, the vice president of Samsung Electronics, visited the SSAFY training center in Gwangju to look around the facilities and encourage the students in person. Samsung Electronics, under its CSR Vision of ‘Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People’, is running a range of educational programs to empower future generations to achieve their full potential.