Top 1,000 Firms See Jump in Sales, Employee Age
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
A recent study shows that the country's top 1,000 companies employ 1,437 employees each with an average age of 25.6, recording annual sales of nearly 1.2 trillion won _ all showing an upward trend since five years ago.
Korcham Biz, operated by the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), said Thursday that the average sales of top enterprises climbed up 28.6 percent from 927 billion won in 2002 to 1.192 trillion won last year.
Over the same period, their employees' average age rose slightly from 24.5 to 25.6 and the number of employees also went up 6.9 percent from 1,344 to 1,437.
After 2002, those businesses in the top 1,000 said it took them an average of 16 years be listed.
Of those already on the roster, about 10.5 percent (105 companies) get edged out each year by new players _ roughly 250 companies have dropped off the list over the past five years.
While the electrical and gas, water supply, transportation, construction, finance and insurance industries boasted the highest survival rate on the top 1,000 list, the study showed that the most frequent switch occurred among the real estate, business services and wholesale-retail sectors.
``These businesses see more changes because they face more competition compared to other industries and are sensitive to the overall economy,'' said KCCI researcher Kim Dae-kyu.
Additionally, the number of leading firms listed on the stock market last year was 351, which is a drop from 395 in 2002, but those on the KOSDAQ market jumped from 65 to 77.
Samsung Electronics has held the No. 1 seat for five years in a row, while the 1,000th company last year was semiconductor and display equipment maker Ulvac Korea.