Posco, South Korea’s leading steelmaker, will hire a total of 6,000 full-time employees from this year to 2020 in an effort to offer job opportunities and secure talent, the company said Tuesday.

The company will hire 1,500 workers annually for the next four years.

The large-scale employment plan comes as the steelmaker strives to gain a lead in the “fourth industrial revolution” by researching and developing new sources of growth such as lithium, the company said.

To secure talent, Posco will look for potential employees in academia, former officers discharged from military service and other diverse fields.

Posco will also boost the total value of funds created to support affiliates to 550 billion won ($484.5 million) from the current 500 billion won across 15 funds, the company said.

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)