COVID-19 Causes Sharp Drop in Foot Traffic at Lotte Mall... Lotte Asset Development Accepts Voluntary Retirement Applications

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Lotte Asset Development, which has been experiencing performance deterioration due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), is implementing voluntary retirement.

According to the industry on the 26th, Lotte Asset Development recently announced internally that it will conduct voluntary retirement due to three years of operating profit deficits and performance deterioration caused by COVID-19.

The target is all regular employees, and severance pay is paid differentially according to rank. For less than 10 years, 12 months of base salary; for 10 to 20 years, 15 months of base salary; and for over 20 years, 18 months of base salary.

Lotte Asset Development is in charge of complex shopping center and resort development projects and operates Lotte World Mall, Lotte Mall, and others. Recently, Lotte Mall's performance has significantly deteriorated due to decreased sales and store closures caused by the impact of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Lotte Group is accelerating large-scale restructuring by organizing inefficient stores of Lotte Shopping, such as department stores, marts, and supermarkets. Lotte Shopping plans to close about 200 stores over 3 to 5 years.

A Lotte Group official stated, "Due to the impact of COVID-19, the number of customers visiting offline stores has significantly decreased, causing difficulties for places like Lotte Mall," and added, "Voluntary retirement is an inevitable aspect of the industrial structure."

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