South Korea: The AI era is coming, and technical blue-collar workers are in high demand.

For a long time, graduating from a prestigious school and working as a white-collar worker has been seen as the standard for success in the eyes of South Koreans. However, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence leading to a boom in the semiconductor industry, the income of frontline production workers has greatly increased. As a large number of office clerical jobs are being replaced by AI, more young people are choosing to attend vocational education schools in order to more easily enter frontline production positions. According to the South Korean newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, on the 25th, as the semiconductor industry enters an upswing period, frontline employees at SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics chip departments are expected to receive huge bonuses. Against this backdrop, data from the Korean Association of Community Colleges shows that this year, the number of people choosing vocational schools has reached a new high of 2500, an increase of 23% compared to last year.