Employee Tenure Rises at South Korea’s Top Firms Despite Youth Turnover and Senior Retirements

Average Tenure at Major Korean Companies Hits 14 Years, Defying Workforce Trends (Image created by AI/ChatGPT)

SEOUL, April 16 (Korea Bizwire) — The average length of service of employees at 80 major South Korean companies has increased in the past five years despite frequent job changes among young workers and retirement programs for senior workers, a corporate data tracker said Wednesday.

In its survey of 80 companies that released data on their employees’ average years of service for the 2020-2024 period, CEO Score found the workers’ average length of service rose to 14.03 years in 2024 from 13.55 years in 2020.

The 80 firms belong to the country’s top 100 companies in terms of sales.

The average period of employment for female workers jumped to 12.94 years from 11.38 years over the cited period, while that of male employees climbed to 14.41 years from 14.29 years, the data firm said.

SK Networks, an information technology (IT) solutions unit under SK Group, reported the sharpest growth in the employment period, with it increasing to 13.92 years in 2024 from 9.05 years in 2020.

In contrast, leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co. saw its workers’ years of service fall by the most, dropping to 15.8 years from 18.8 years.

In 2024, Kia Corp. topped others with an average 21.8 years of service, followed by KT Corp. at 20.5 years, SK Incheon Petrochem 20 years and Citibank Korea 18.84.

Doosan Bobcat, a construction equipment maker, posted 3.2 years, the shortest length of service, in 2024.

(Yonhap)