The New Profession Sweeping Young People with Salaries of Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars

The chip revolution is leading young people in South Korea and the US to forgo university in favor of vocational schools for chip manufacturing, with average salaries exceeding $100,000 and job offers from companies like Samsung.

The chip revolution is changing the career path of young people in South Korea and the United States. Instead of spending years on expensive academic studies, many teenagers are choosing to study at vocational schools for chip manufacturing. At the Chungbuk Chip Technology School, about 96.4% of students graduate with a signed job offer, and about a quarter are accepted directly into Samsung. The average salary at Samsung Electronics was about $107,300 last year, and production workers could earn up to $400,000 next year. The trend stems from the rise of artificial intelligence and the difficulty university graduates face in finding work: South Korea recorded a five-year high in academic unemployment with over 480,000 unemployed degree holders. In the US, the chip industry is expected to face a shortage of about 157,000 skilled workers by 2030. Giant companies like JPMorgan, Meta, and Lowe's are investing billions in vocational training.