LG Display Announces First Voluntary Retirement in 4 Years... Critical OLED Structural Improvement (Comprehensive)

Paju and Gumi Factory Production Line Workers Voluntary Retirement
Targeting Employees Aged 40 and Above... Applications Open from the 5th

LG Display, which had posted losses for six consecutive quarters, is implementing voluntary retirement for the first time in four years to improve profitability. The company plans to streamline surplus labor in the LCD line and promote workforce efficiency and productivity maximization. In addition to its existing core business of large OLEDs such as TVs, LG Display aims to enhance efficiency in the small and medium-sized OLED business for IT and mobile devices, as well as the automotive (electric and electronic equipment) OLED business.

According to industry sources, LG Display announced on the 5th that it is accepting voluntary retirement applications from production line workers at its Paju plant in Gyeonggi Province and Gumi plant in Gyeongbuk Province. The offer targets production workers aged 40 and above with long tenure. After receiving applications, the company plans to finalize the list of eligible employees within this month and complete all procedures. Those who opt for voluntary retirement will receive 36 months' salary and tuition support for their children.

This is LG Display's first voluntary retirement since 2019, four years ago. The number of employees eligible for this voluntary retirement has not been disclosed. After several rounds of voluntary retirement in the late 2010s, the workforce was reduced by nearly 7,000 employees over two years, but the company stated that no large-scale workforce adjustments like that will occur following this voluntary retirement.

LG Display Paju P10 Factory. [Photo by LG Display]

The scale of the 2019 voluntary retirement was not specifically disclosed. However, after three rounds of voluntary retirement between 2018 and 2019, the number of employees decreased from 33,335 at the end of 2017 to 26,665 in 2019, a reduction of 6,670 over two years. At that time, the voluntary retirement attracted industry attention as it was the first in over a decade since 2007.

The company stated that this voluntary retirement is being conducted not primarily to reduce labor costs but to reorganize the company's business. Unlike in the past when thousands of employees left, this time the voluntary retirement will be limited in scale.

To improve profitability, the company explained that business restructuring toward high value-added OLEDs for TVs (large size), IT, mobile (small and medium size), and automotive applications is inevitable. As the company decided to halt operations at the Paju LCD plant (P7) for TV LCD panels and the Gumi 6th generation LCD panel plant, surplus labor was unavoidable.

The company did not pressure employees to take voluntary retirement but offered other options such as transfers to affiliates and recharging leave systems. A company official explained, "We restructured the business through lawful procedures in consultation with the labor union, and some employees chose voluntary retirement."