By Lee Hyo-sik
Hyundai Motor Group will hire nearly 10,000 young jobseekers this year and more next year to help alleviate the country’s deepening youth unemployment. Its suppliers also are expected to recruit at least 17,000 young people this year.
The move comes several days after Korea’s biggest carmaker said it would introduce a peak wage system to all its affiliates despite labor opposition. The company wants to reduce labor costs by cutting senior workers’ wages and use the money to hire more young jobseekers.
Hyundai Motor said Tuesday it will recruit 9,500 university graduates this year and increase the figure by at least 1,000 in 2016. It plans to create posts for 1,000 young people with the money it saves from the peak wage system, which cuts an employee’s salary at a certain age in return for job security.
“We will hire 9,500 young people this year as planned,” a Hyundai Motor spokesman said. “We don’t know yet how many we will recruit next year but the figure will definitely be higher than this year’s.”
“With the introduction of the peak wage system, it is estimated that we will be able to hire 1,000 more entry-level workers, mostly in production and sales. We would like to facilitate the government’s all-out campaign to improve job market conditions for young adults,” he said.
In addition, the carmaker’s business partners, who are mostly parts makers and logistics firms, plan to hire a combined 17,000 young workers this year.
“We have been encouraging our suppliers to boost their employment of entry-level workers,” the spokesman said. “We organized large-scale job fairs in five cities in the first half to help them secure talented workers. This also provided millions of young jobseekers with good opportunities to find work.”
Hyundai Motor’s latest hiring plan comes a day after Samsung Group announced a 100 billion won investment plan to create jobs for 30,000 young people over the next two years.
Samsung also said it will implement the peak wage system at its affiliates, under which an employee's wages from 56 years old will be cut by 10 percent in return for raising their retirement age.
SK Group, Korea’s third-largest conglomerate, recently said it would hire 24,000 young jobseekers over the next two years. The number will likely rise after its chairman, Chey Tae-won, who has been stressing the importance of the group’s social responsibilities, was released from jail last Friday on a presidential pardon.
Hanwha Group also plans to recruit a total of 12,000 young adults in 2015 and 2016, while LG Group is set to announce its own hiring plan for next year.
LG recruited 12,000 university graduates last year and the number will likely increase this year and next.