S-Oil "Voluntary Retirement Scale Under 50... Part of 'Team Myeon' System"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoonju Hwang] S-Oil is minimizing the scale of voluntary retirement to fewer than 50 employees. This is because the purpose of voluntary retirement is not restructuring but part of the implementation of the team demotion (team-myeon) system. Through this,

A senior official at S-Oil stated on the 14th, "The scale of voluntary retirement is fewer than 50 people, and it could be even less," adding, "This is not restructuring but conducted as part of the introduction of the team leader demotion system."

To this end, S-Oil held a voluntary retirement briefing session last year and has been accepting voluntary retirement applications since the 12th. The application period lasts 11 days until the 22nd, and those who apply for voluntary retirement will retire on June 30.

The voluntary retirement target is office workers aged 50 or older (with 15 years of service). Production workers are excluded. In the refining sector, the average years of service for male employees is 19.2 years and for female employees 18 years, both close to 20 years. In the lubricants sector, the average years of service are 15.6 years for men and 12.9 years for women, and in the petrochemical sector, 13.7 years and 4.8 years respectively. Among the total office workers (1,450 employees), 480 meet these conditions.

This is the first time since its founding that S-Oil is accepting voluntary retirement applications. Other refiners such as SK Innovation and GS Caltex have ongoing voluntary retirement systems.

The reason S-Oil introduced voluntary retirement is as part of the implementation of the team demotion (team-myeon) system. The retirement team demotion system means that a team leader whose KPI falls below a certain level is demoted to a team member. Companies operating in highly competitive markets, such as SK Telecom, are implementing this. Among younger employees, the introduction of voluntary retirement is reportedly being positively evaluated. For example, many departments have their youngest team member in their late 30s with over 10 years of experience. While large conglomerate-affiliated refiners allow capable employees to be promoted to team leader in their 40s, such cases are rare at S-Oil.

An industry insider said, "S-Oil is known to have more than 50% of its workforce aged 50 or older, which is an advantage as a stable workplace, but it has the disadvantage of severe personnel stagnation and limited internal promotion opportunities," explaining, "They are accepting voluntary retirement applications from employees who have been demoted through the team-myeon system or those who want to take on new challenges."

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