South Korea's chip boom pulls teenagers straight to Samsung and SK Hynix, bypassing university

At Chungbuk Semiconductor High School in South Korea, teenagers in cleanroom suits handle silicon wafers using the same processes as commercial chip plants. About half of the school's graduates go directly to companies such as Samsung Electronics or SK Hynix without attending university.

The shift challenges a deeply held belief in South Korea that a university degree is the only path to a stable career. The country's semiconductor boom is creating demand for production workers that outpaces what the traditional education pipeline supplies — even as graduates of prestigious universities struggle to land jobs at large companies that prefer experienced hires over new graduates.

One student at a semiconductor school told the South China Morning Post that the pay at Samsung left no room for worry about skipping university.