SEOUL - SK hynix Inc. plans to introduce a pilot program to foster an English-speaking work environment starting with its artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure business, amid efforts to boost global competitiveness, industry sources said Sunday.
The South Korean chipmaker has notified its employees in AI-related departments to use both Korean and English in emails, according to the sources.
The company also plans to proceed with the English localization of their business systems and has also recommended utilizing English nicknames at executive meetings, the sources said.
"We have introduced the pilot move at organizations related to our AI infrastructure business, which frequently interact with overseas customers, to strengthen an English-using work environment," an official from SK hynix said.
The chipmaker's AI infrastructure unit sells and plans launches of memory chips used in AI and is considered the key contact point for SK hynix's major global clients, such as Nvidia Corp.
The initiative is likely to expand to other departments as well, sources said, with its competitor, Samsung Electronics Co., already introducing new foreign language-related incentives to strengthen employees' global competitiveness.
Samsung Group has even required employees at three of its affiliates, including Samsung Display Co., to write all documents exchanged between their local and overseas offices in English.
SK hynix, too, has said it plans to "seek ways to utilize English daily," in a meeting with employees held last month at the chipmaker's campus in Icheon, some 60 kilometers south of Seoul.
