Top 500 Companies Added 12,000 Jobs in First Half of Year... Samsung Electronics Leads with 3,225 New Hires

Distribution Industry Declines... Coupang Down by 2,116 Employees

Samsung Electronics Suwon Campus. (Photo by Samsung Electronics)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] It has been revealed that the top 500 domestic companies increased new hires, resulting in more than 10,000 additional employees compared to previous years in the first half of this year alone.

According to CEO Score, a corporate evaluation site, an analysis of 459 out of the top 500 domestic companies by revenue showed that as of June, based on National Pension subscribers, the number of employees at these companies increased by 1.5% from last year to 1,554,127. Forty-one companies that experienced more than a 10% change in employee numbers due to mergers or splits during the survey period were excluded.

In the first half of the year, the number of new National Pension subscribers at these companies was 164,422, while the number of those who left was 151,929. The net employment increase, calculated by subtracting those who left from new subscribers, was 12,493. CEO Score explained that "companies appear to have increased employment in line with economic recovery trends."

By industry, out of 21 sectors, 14 saw an increase in employee numbers in the first half. The Information Technology (IT) and Electrical & Electronics sector, which includes Samsung Electronics, had the highest net employment increase of 6,202. This was followed by the service industry (2,053), food and beverage industry (1,906), automobile and parts industry (1,860), transportation industry (1,532), and construction and building materials industry (1,519).

On the other hand, the distribution industry saw the largest decrease in net employment, dropping by 2,602 in the first half, the biggest decline among all sectors. Other sectors with employee reductions included banking (1,672), insurance (865), telecommunications (702), daily necessities (449), and commercial services (86).

By company, Samsung Electronics had the highest net employment increase in the first half with 3,225 employees. LG Display (1,284) and Korean Air (1,114) also saw net employment increases exceeding 1,000.

Among distribution companies, Coupang experienced the largest net employment decrease with 2,116 fewer employees. This was followed by Citibank Korea (995), KT (925), E-Mart (652), and Samsung Display (546) in terms of net employment reductions.