Hyundai Duty Free Also Implements Voluntary Retirement... High-Intensity Management Efficiency Measures

Following the Closure and Downsizing of Downtown Duty-Free Stores
Intensified Management Efficiency Measures
15-Month Severance Pay for Employees with Over 5 Years of Service

Hyundai Duty Free is implementing voluntary retirement following the closure of its downtown duty-free stores. This is to adjust the workforce in line with the reduction of downtown duty-free shops.

According to the duty-free industry on the 9th, Hyundai Duty Free announced a voluntary retirement notice through the company bulletin board on the 4th. Eligible applicants for voluntary retirement are all employees at the manager level or below who joined before December 31, 2021. The application deadline is until the 18th.

Visitors are entering the Hyundai Department Store Duty Free Trade Center branch in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, which fully opened on the 1st. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Employees with more than 3 years of service will receive a special severance payment equivalent to 12 months of their performance-based annual salary, and those with more than 5 years will receive 15 months' worth.

A Hyundai Duty Free official stated, "This is an unavoidable choice to normalize the business and promote future growth amid the crisis affecting the entire duty-free industry."

This measure is interpreted as part of management efficiency efforts to overcome the performance crisis caused by the sluggish duty-free market. Hyundai Duty Free has been operating two downtown duty-free stores, Dongdaemun and Trade Center, as well as Incheon International Airport Terminals 1 and 2.

Earlier, at a board meeting on the 1st, Hyundai Duty Free decided to close the Dongdaemun downtown duty-free store by July. The Samsung-dong Trade Center store will reduce its operation from three floors to two floors.

Due to the downturn in the duty-free industry, competing companies are also pursuing management efficiency. Previously, Lotte Duty Free, Shinsegae Duty Free, and HDC Shilla Duty Free also implemented voluntary retirement programs last year.