Employment Changes at the Four Major Conglomerates Over Five Years
Hyundai Motor Group Posts Highest Employment Growth Rate in Four Years
Samsung Maintains Large-Scale Employment Across Multiple Affiliates
From 2020 to 2024, employment trends among Korea’s four major conglomerates diverged. Samsung and Hyundai Motor Group have continued to increase employment since 2020, while LG and SK Group saw their number of employees in 2024 fall below 2020 levels.
According to the "2020-2024 Employment Changes in Major Korean Conglomerates" report released by the Korea CXO Institute on September 18, the total domestic employment across the four major groups in 2020 was 698,526. This figure rose each year, reaching 718,035 in 2021, 744,167 in 2022, 745,902 in 2023, and 746,436 in 2024. Compared to 2020, employment in 2024 increased by 47,910, representing a growth rate of 6.9%.
The number of employees by group was based on annual disclosures from the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). The KFTC’s data includes only domestic employees, excluding overseas personnel.
However, when broken down by group, employment trends varied. Samsung and Hyundai Motor Group continued to see employment growth from 2020 through last year, while LG and SK experienced a decline in hiring. For Samsung, the total number of domestic employees across its affiliates was in the 260,000 range in 2020, rose to the 270,000 range in 2022, and surpassed 280,000 last year. From 2020 to 2024, Samsung added 22,635 jobs, an increase of 8.6%.
Hyundai Motor Group increased its workforce by 36,990 from 2020 to 2024, with an employment growth rate of 22.2%. Both the number of new hires and the growth rate outpaced Samsung during the same period. Hyundai Motor Group’s total employees grew from the 160,000 range in 2020, to the 170,000 range in 2021, the 180,000 range in 2022, the 190,000 range in 2023, and reached 203,915 last year, joining Samsung as one of the groups employing over 200,000 people.
In contrast, LG had 154,633 employees in 2020, peaked at 158,791 in 2021, then saw a steady decline, dropping to 149,459 last year, falling below the 150,000 mark. Compared to 2020, LG lost 5,174 jobs by 2024, a decrease of 3.3%.
SK also saw its workforce shrink from 114,842 in 2020 to 108,301 in 2024, losing 6,541 jobs, a decline of 5.7% over the same period.
Notably, Samsung, which leads the four groups in employment, increased its workforce for eight consecutive years, from 241,797 in 2016 to last year. The main reason is that many of its affiliates maintain large-scale employment. Based on KFTC disclosures (which differ from business reports), there were seven Samsung affiliates with more than 10,000 employees as of last year: Samsung Electronics (123,411), Samsung Display (21,242), Samsung SDI (13,122), Samsung C&T (12,237), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (12,200), Samsung SDS (11,426), and Samsung Heavy Industries (11,426). Six other affiliates employed between 5,000 and 10,000 people: Samsung Electronics Service (8,163), S-1 Corporation (7,015), Samsung Welstory (6,436), Samsung E&A (5,865), Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (5,662), and Samsung Life Insurance (5,313).
Among single domestic companies, Samsung Electronics is responsible for the largest number of jobs. According to its business report (not the KFTC disclosure), Samsung Electronics had 129,480 employees last year. Since first surpassing 100,000 employees in 2018 (103,011), the number has since grown to over 120,000.
Oh Ilseon, head of the Korea CXO Institute, stated, "Within the next two to three years, the number of employees at Samsung’s domestic affiliates is expected to exceed 300,000. Although overseas hiring by Samsung and other major Korean conglomerates is likely to increase significantly due to recent U.S. tariffs and other factors, the pace of domestic employment growth may be relatively slower than overseas."
Meanwhile, as the Presidential Office designated this week as "Youth Week" and emphasized expanding youth employment, major domestic conglomerates such as Samsung, Hanwha, SK, POSCO, and Hyundai Motor Group all announced plans to expand new hiring on the previous day.
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