By Miranda Li

Chinese smartphone manufacturers are recruiting talented Korean smartphone engineers with an offer a quadruple of their current salaries or even more, according to Korea's news portal BusinessKorea.

Source: BusinessKorea

Industry watchers told BusinessKorea that Chinese smartphone makers are recruiting engineers from Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics in large numbers through headhunters. Chinese smartphone makers have a particular fancy for engineers at Samsung Electronics.

Samsung's smartphone crew has shrunken for three consecutive years -- 27,649 in 2019, 27,094 in 2020 and 26,426 in 2021. Many of those who left Samsung Electronics are believed to be employed by Chinese smartphone makers.

Chinese companies are also trying to recruit talent at LG Electronics, which withdrew from the smartphone business last year. LG Electronics' smartphone engineers are currently assigned to the company's other businesses. But those with more smartphone expertise are targeted by Chinese smartphone makers.