The War for Talent Acquisition in the Industry with the Emergence of 'T Map Mobility'

SKT Faces Critical Talent Acquisition Ahead of Spin-off Launch
Also Reaching Out to Experienced Employees at Kakao and Hyundai Motor

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] "The Best Treatment in the Same Industry"

As T map Mobility (tentative name), which is spinning off from SK Telecom, is about to launch, the domestic mobility industry is buzzing. Against SK Telecom, the 'talent black hole' that has started full-scale recruitment of experienced professionals to work at T map Mobility, boasting the highest level in the industry, competitors such as Kakao Mobility have also jumped into the battle to secure experts.

T map Mobility Becomes a Talent Black Hole

According to industry sources on the 23rd, SK Telecom has been recruiting experienced professionals in more than 20 job categories including engineers, developers, designers, and business planning to work at the newly established corporation T map Mobility since the end of last month. The treatment is known to be lower than SK Telecom but at the highest level in the same industry. Currently, SK Telecom is also contacting key personnel working at competing mobility companies and major automobile companies through headhunting firms.

An industry official said, "SK Telecom is putting all its efforts into securing professional talent ahead of the launch of T map Mobility," adding, "With SK Telecom's support, they are contacting experienced employees from Kakao Mobility, Hyundai Motor Group, Naver, and others." Another industry insider said, "Since cooperation with Uber is scheduled, interest in T map Mobility among stakeholders is quite high," and added, "It looks like it will literally become a 'talent black hole'." SK Telecom will hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on the 26th to approve the spin-off plan for the mobility specialist company T map Mobility. The spin-off date is set for the 29th of next month.

Inside SK Telecom, preparations for personnel movement are also accelerating. The mobility business unit, consisting of about 250 people, is at the center of this. It is reported that about one-third of this group will move to T map Mobility. SK Telecom is also accepting applications from employees of affiliates such as SK Communications who wish to transfer to T map Mobility.

However, some difficulties have been confirmed during this process. Earlier, as voices of concern about treatment and future prospects grew among mobility business unit employees regarding the move to the new corporation, SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho announced that returning to SK Telecom would be guaranteed. A representative of the SK Telecom labor union said, "We have sought legal advice on whether the return guarantee promised by CEO Park has legal effect," adding, "Team assignments will be finalized by the end of this month, followed by regular personnel appointments in January next year."

Competitors Also Competing for Talent

The moves of competitors are also significant. Companies that judged securing professional talent such as developers to be most important for promoting new businesses are jumping into the talent acquisition battle one after another.

Kakao Mobility, the number one mobility company in Korea, conducted a public recruitment of 00 experienced professionals immediately after SK Telecom's spin-off plan was formalized. The recruitment fields are similar to those of T map Mobility, ranging from development and business planning to management support. Even after the experienced recruitment period ended, they are continuing with ongoing recruitment. Hyundai Motor Group, which declared a 'mobility innovation,' has also been recruiting research and development (R&D) talent to lead future mobility since the end of last month. Recently, Naver, a leading domestic information and communication technology (ICT) company, announced plans to hire hundreds of developers, making a large-scale personnel movement by the end of this year expected.

In particular, as internal difficulties arose within SK Telecom regarding the move to T map Mobility, it is reported that contacts to poach SK Telecom mobility business unit employees have been continuous, mainly from competitors. An industry official said, "There have been behind-the-scenes efforts to poach talent from SK Telecom to Kakao Mobility and vice versa," adding, "The reason SK Telecom recently decided to offer various incentives related to the move to T map Mobility and keep the possibility of return open is to prevent losing personnel." It is expected that as the mobility market grows rapidly in the future, the manpower shortage will intensify.