Stealing Battery Tech
According to industry sources, Chinese battery manufacturers are trying to headhunt R&D personnel and engineers from South Korean companies such as LG Chem, SK Innovation and Samsung SDI.
“Approximately 100 South Korean battery experts are already working for a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer,” one of them said, adding, “The total number of such persons has yet to be calculated but it is likely to increase rapidly with time.”
The battery industry is similar to semiconductor and telecom in that fast development of new technology and the following reduction in production cost hold the key to winning. This means the success and failure depend on which company has more R&D personnel and engineers. This is why China, which is eager to catch up with South Korea and Japan in the industry, is trying to siphon off such personnel at any cost. It is said that Chinese battery manufacturers are proposing a salary of up to 500 million won a year per potential employee with a 10-year career.
China is currently the largest car market in the world and more than 30 million new cars are sold a year in it. The Chinese government is planning to boost the size of the local electric vehicle market to at least 600,000 units by 2020. In this context, the Chinese government is implementing various policy measures in an aggressive way, including the payment of a large amount of subsidies.