Executive Summary
Korea’s shortage of digital talent—especially in AI—has progressed from a
chronic concern to a direct threat to national competitiveness. With global
remote work now firmly established and the continued outflow of Korea’s AI
talent, policies focused solely on physical relocation are no longer sufficient to
secure global human resources. This report therefore advances the need for a
“Two-Track Strategy” that enables Korean firms to flexibly leverage
overseas-based digital talent. To that end, we provide an in-depth analysis of
the labor-market characteristics and the strengths and weaknesses of key
sourcing countries—the United States, Vietnam, India, and Japan—and derive
practical measures and policy implications that Korean companies and the
government can implement to utilize talent residing abroad.
By “global digital talent,” we mean professionals who not only possess digital
and AI capabilities but also exhibit “global mobility” and the proactiveness to
seek growth opportunities across borders. In this report, “overseas-based digital
talent” refers to global digital talent residing outside the Republic of Korea.
Each of the major countries relevant to Korean firms’ digital-talent sourcing
presents distinct opportunities and challenges.
The United States remains the world’s premier innovation hub, concentrating
top-tier talent, but extremely high labor costs and recently tightened visa
policies are major constraints. For the United States, a targeted approach is
advisable: recruit small, elite R&D “cells” and structure work for effective
asynchronous collaboration.
Vietnam offers cost efficiency grounded in a young, abundant workforce and
strong government commitment, yet it still lacks sufficient top-tier AI
specialists and requires sustained effort to bridge cultural differences. A
practical model for Vietnam is to pair Korean planners/product managers with
Vietnamese developers to close quality and communication gaps, combining
direct hires for core functions with outsourcing for variable tasks.
India provides a vast talent pool and strong English proficiency, but capability