Hanwha Aerospace apologizes over controversial hiring guidelines

Hanwha Aerospace has apologized for hiring guidelines that restricted experienced-hire applicants based on age and educational background, pledging to discipline those responsible and overhaul its recruitment process to prevent similar incidents.

CEO Lee Boo-hwan issued an apology on the company website on Sunday, saying it was unacceptable to restrict applicants’ opportunities based on personal attributes.

“There should never have been guidelines that could limit applicants’ opportunities based on personal factors such as education and age, which are unrelated to job performance,” Lee said.

The labor ministry launched an inspection on Sept. 16 over allegations that Hanwha Aerospace had prepared and distributed guidelines specifying age ranges and universities for experienced-hire positions to human resources executives and hiring managers.

Lee said the guidelines “directly violated” the company’s principles of open hiring and equal opportunity, adding that he took the matter very seriously.

“This was a clear failure on our part, as incorrect guidelines were distributed to the relevant departments without sufficient internal consultation or thorough review. We take full responsibility for this,” Lee said.

“Fair hiring is the most basic form of justice and an obligation that companies must provide to society.”

He noted the departments and individuals responsible would face disciplinary action, adding that the company will strengthen fair-hiring training to “promote a recruitment culture free of discrimination.”

According to the company, Lee learned last month that an HR official had drawn up hiring guidelines targeting applicants from specific universities and age groups.

Earlier this month, he warned those involved and emailed all HR employees, business-unit and division heads, saying the company would not tolerate inappropriate hiring practices.

The company has referred those responsible for drafting the guidelines to its personnel committee and said that disciplinary proceedings are underway.

“We will take this incident as a painful lesson and ensure that such unreasonable discrimination does not happen again,” Lee said.

Hanwha Aerospace said it will conduct a comprehensive review of its hiring process and make any necessary changes. It also plans to provide stronger training on fair hiring practices to all employees and ensure those principles are reflected throughout the recruitment process.