The number of people working for South Korea’s top 30 major business groups has increased 17 percent over the past five years. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of people working for South Korea’s top 30 major business groups has increased 17 percent over the past five years, well higher than the average rise of 13 percent for the corporate sector, industry data showed Wednesday, indicating that the conglomerates helped ease the country’s prolonged labor market slump.
According to the data by CEO Score, a local corporate researcher, the number of people employed by the country’s 30 largest business groups, including Samsung, Hyundai and LG, stood at 986,231 as of the end of September last year, up 144,557, or 17.2 percent, from 2010.
The growth rate is higher than the 13.3 percent gain for companies overall over the past five years.
The government has continued to call for the corporate sector to expand hiring in a bid to alleviate the prolonged labor market slump as it sees more employment as a way to encourage consumption and boost the overall economy.
Shinsegae Group, South Korea’s leading retail company; CJ Corp.; and Hanwha Group increased their payrolls, while Kumho Asiana Group and Dongbu cut jobs, the data showed.
The South Korean economy is faced with a slump in domestic demand and exports amid concerns over a slowdown in China, South Korea’s top trading partner, and other major economies, which is hurting job creation.
(Yonhap)
