Hyundai Motor, Samsung, and SK Increased Employment Last Year Despite Recession

CXO Research Institute, Employment Status Survey of 82 Groups
Hyundai Motor 13,000 Increase, Coupang 20,000 Decrease
Samsung, 270,000 Employees for the First Time in 10 Years

Despite the global economic downturn last year, Hyundai Motor, Samsung, and SK Group increased employment by thousands to tens of thousands of people. Coupang, on the other hand, reduced its workforce by more than 20,000.

The Korea CXO Institute, a corporate analysis specialist, released data on June 8 titled 'Employment Changes in 82 Groups from 2021 to 2022.' It surveyed 82 large business groups designated by the Fair Trade Commission with assets exceeding 5 trillion won and 3,076 affiliated companies.

The total number of employees across the 3,076 affiliates was 1,762,391, an increase of 2.5% (42,981 people) from 1,719,410 in 2021. This growth rate was 1.4 percentage points lower than the 3.9% (63,760 people) increase from 2020 to 2021.

Among the 82 groups, 52 (63.4%) increased their number of employees over one year, while 22 groups (42.3%) saw a decrease.

The group that increased employment the most was Hyundai Motor. Its workforce grew by 13,939 (8%) from 174,952 in 2021 to 188,891 last year. Hyundai Motor was the only group to increase employment by more than 10,000 in one year. Samsung followed with an increase of 7,148 (from 266,854 in 2021 to 274,002 last year), SK with 7,061 (117,438 → 124,499), and CJ with 5,416 (52,931 → 58,347).

Coupang reduced its workforce by 20,212 (27.8%), from 72,763 in 2021 to 52,551 last year. LG (1,016), Hyosung (1,959), GS (1,345), and SeAH (1,268) also cut employment by more than 1,000 employees.

Samsung Group ranked first in employment size with 274,002 employees. This marks the first time in 10 years since 2013 that Samsung’s domestic workforce has surpassed 270,000. Hyundai Motor (188,891), LG (156,775), and SK (124,449) also exceeded 100,000 employees. By affiliate, 27 companies had more than 10,000 employees. Samsung Electronics (115,382) was the only company to exceed 100,000 employees. Hyundai Motor (72,654), LG Electronics (36,093), Kia (35,684), and SK Hynix (31,374) formed the 'Top 5.'

Oh Il-seon, director of the CXO Institute, said, "This year, due to unfavorable economic conditions, employment conditions in IT and distribution groups may worsen somewhat compared to last year."