LG Display, Uncertain Outlook for New College Graduate Recruitment in First Half of the Year

Organizational Slimming and COVID-19 Impact
Replacement of R&D Recruitment-Linked Program

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] LG Display's possibility of publicly recruiting new college graduate employees in the first half of this year appears uncertain. This is due to the significant reduction of personnel in the liquid crystal display (LCD) business last year as part of organizational slimming, as well as increased management uncertainties caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

According to industry sources on the 22nd, LG Display has reportedly reached an internal consensus to practically not proceed with the schedule for new college graduate recruitment in the first half of this year. If recruitment in the first half fails, it will be the second consecutive year of not hiring new college graduate employees following last year.

LG Display recorded a deficit of 1.359 trillion KRW last year due to the decline in LCD panel prices caused by the volume offensive from Chinese companies. As a result, the company accelerated organizational restructuring centered on the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) business, including offering voluntary retirement to production workers in the LCD business division.

However, the company plans to proceed with the ‘LGenius’ recruitment program, which is linked to hiring, as scheduled in the first half of this year.

LGenius is a recruitment program that started in 2011 and annually selects outstanding talents early from undergraduate and graduate students pursuing master's and doctoral degrees. Those selected for LGenius receive scholarship support and are guaranteed employment as research and development (R&D) personnel after graduation.

In the first half of this year, the company plans to select master's and doctoral candidates, and in the second half, it will target both undergraduate and graduate students. The specific schedule is currently being coordinated with each university considering the COVID-19 situation.

In particular, following last year, the company has announced plans to increase personnel to strengthen the OLED business. LG Display plans to expand OLED TV sales volume from about 3.3 million units last year to around 6 million units this year and has secured a monthly production capacity of 85th-generation OLED TV panels from 69,000 units in 2018 to 79,000 units last year. Last year, the global market share of OLED panels for smartphones also reached 10% for the first time in history.

An LG Display official said, "Although nothing has been specifically decided, considering recent circumstances, many internal opinions view it as difficult to proceed with the public recruitment schedule in the first half of this year," adding, "We plan to flexibly replenish some R&D personnel to reorganize the business centered on high value-added products such as OLED."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.