KT Restructuring Plan Labor-Management Agreement Reached... Transfers and Voluntary Retirement Applications Accepted Starting Next Week (Comprehensive)

Transfer applications accepted from the 21st... Voluntary retirement starts from the 22nd
Labor-management agreement raises job change support fund from 20% to 30%
Welfare benefits maintained under conditions similar to KT

KT labor and management have reached an agreement to raise the transfer conditions regarding the plan to restructure 5,700 on-site personnel, and the company will begin accepting transfer and voluntary retirement applications starting next week.

Kim Young-seop, CEO of KT, attended the 'AICT Business Strategy Press Conference' held on the 10th at Novotel Ambassador Dongdaemun in Jung-gu, Seoul, and answered reporters' questions about the background of cooperation with Microsoft, future plans, and business strategies toward becoming an 'AICT Company.' Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

On the 17th, KT announced that labor and management had completed an agreement on the plan to transfer the on-site personnel subject to restructuring to two newly established subsidiaries and other group companies, or to accept special voluntary retirement. It is understood that the agreement was reached in the early hours of the day.

Earlier, on the morning of the 15th, KT held a board meeting and approved the establishment of KT OSP and KT P&M (tentative name) through 100% cash investment in shares. These two subsidiaries will be responsible for tasks such as building and maintaining network infrastructure including lines and power supply.

The restructuring target includes 5,700 on-site personnel, of whom 3,400 will be employed by KT OSP and 380 by KT P&M. Transferred employees will continue their existing duties at the new subsidiaries.

This aims to improve management efficiency for the transition to AICT (AI+ICT). The new companies are targeted to be established early next year.

KT plans to position the new companies as "technology specialized companies" and will also pursue entry into external markets and new business ventures.

The initial plan to provide transferred employees with 70% of their base salary received at KT and 20% of job transition support funds has been revised through labor-management agreement to increase the job transition support funds to 30%.

Additionally, labor and management agreed to maintain welfare benefits for transferred employees under conditions similar to those at KT headquarters, and the guarantee of contract employee work after retirement age has been extended from the previous two years to three years.

If employees do not wish to transfer, they can choose special voluntary retirement. This opportunity is offered not only to employees in the relevant job fields but also to all employees with actual continuous service of 15 years or more and at least six months remaining until retirement age. It is reported that the highest level of lump-sum payment in history will be provided.

If employees do not want either transfer or special voluntary retirement and wish to continue working at the company, they can be reassigned to the sales division. Placement will consider individual preferred work locations, expertise, and competency levels, and a total of eight weeks of job transition training will be provided.

Applications for transfer to the new subsidiaries and group companies will be accepted twice: from the 21st to the 24th, and from the 25th to the 28th.

Applications for special voluntary retirement will be accepted from the 22nd until the 4th of next month.

KT stated that annual investment in network infrastructure will be maintained regardless of the establishment of the new companies.

A KT official said, "This is to streamline on-site operations through the establishment of specialized on-site companies as part of workforce structural innovation for the transition to an AICT (AI+ICT) company."