Recruiting not a game for software developers

The game software industry is short of manpower even as Korea’s unemployment problem continues. The market for computer games is growing sharply domestically and abroad, but the number of skilled workers to program those games is not. “We wait for you day and night,” read brochures handed out by recruiters in Teheran Street in southern Seoul yesterday. Employees of Nexon Corp., an online game developer, wore costumes of the company’s game characters and handed out the brochures to pedestrians and passengers on a subway train. Although some passers-by mistook the campaign as advertising the company’s wares, Nexon was advertising its job openings. Kim Hyo-taik, a staff manager at Nexon, said, “We came up with the idea to lure talented workers here on Teheran Street, where many information technology companies are concentrated.” Nexon, which has 400 employees, plans to add 100 more next month as its business improves. The company has scheduled job fairs at several universities. The size of the game software industry grew to 3.4 trillion won ($2.9 billion) last year and is expected to surpass 4 trillion won this year. Though 10,000 new employees are needed every year, the supply is estimated at only half the demand. “Recently private educational institutions and college programs have increased their intake of potential employees, but there is an insufficient number of graduates who can be put to work right away,” said Seo Byeong-dae, a senior official at the Korea Game Development & Promotion Institute. With major Internet portals entering the game software market this year and existing companies expanding into China, professional game software programmers are being sought eagerly. NeoWiz Corp., a portal that recently opened a game site called Pmang, rewards existing employees who successfully recruit a new one. The company said that method has added 100 personnel to its rolls, raising the total number of workers to 270. “As finding skilled workers has become a major issue in the industry, game software companies are hiring new employees first even before deciding to where to place them,” a NeoWiz official said. NC Soft Corp., a leading online game software company, added 188 new workers to its roster this year. The demand for more software programmers grew as the company launched a new game called “Lineage II” and entered the Japanese and Chinese game markets. “Highly professional software developers are picking their employer rather than companies selecting them,” an industry official said. “Companies are paying a great deal of attention to recruitment and support their work.” by Cho Min-guen