Which Group Ranks First in Employment Performance Among the 76 Groups Designated by the Fair Trade Commission?

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Among the 76 large business groups designated by the Fair Trade Commission, ‘Coupang’ recorded the steepest employment growth from 2020 to 2021. Coupang increased its workforce by nearly 30,000 employees in 2021, marking the highest employment growth among major domestic groups. During the same period, Samsung had the largest total employment, while Jungheung Construction, which acquired Daewoo Construction, ranked first in employment growth rate.

According to the ‘Analysis of Employment Changes from 2020 to 2021 for 76 Large Business Groups Designated by the Fair Trade Commission’ released on the 2nd by the Korea CXO Institute, 42 out of the 76 groups increased their number of employees over the past year. Among them, the group with the largest employment increase was ‘Coupang,’ whose workforce grew from 43,402 in 2020 to 72,763 in 2021. This represents an increase of 29,361 employees in one year. This accounts for 46.1% of the approximately 63,700 new jobs created by the 76 groups over the past year. Coupang was responsible for a significant portion of the employment growth among large business groups last year.

Following Coupang, Hyundai Motor Group increased its workforce by 8,027 during the same period. Hyundai Motor’s employee count rose from 166,925 in 2020 to 174,962 in 2021. Jungheung Construction had only about 1,500 employees in 2020 but increased to 8,401 last year after acquiring Daewoo Construction, adding 6,865 employees in one year. Next in line were ▲Samsung (up 4,728) ▲Shinsegae (up 4,431) ▲LG (up 4,158) ▲Kakao (up 3,967) ▲SK (up 2,596) ▲Hyundai Heavy Industries (up 2,449) ▲Naver (up 1,795), ranking among the top 10 groups with the largest employment increases over the past year.

On the other hand, 25 groups saw a decrease in the number of employees over the past year. Seven groups experienced a reduction of more than 1,000 employees, with Doosan’s decline being particularly notable. Doosan’s workforce dropped from 14,987 in 2020 to 10,670 last year, a decrease of 4,317 employees in one year. Following were ▲Hyosung (down 2,481) ▲Hanjin (down 2,034) ▲E-Land (down 1,878) ▲KT (down 1,734) ▲Kumho Asiana (down 1,242) ▲Amorepacific (down 1,082), all of which lost more than 1,000 employees from 2020 to 2021.

As of last year, Samsung had the largest total employment with 266,854 employees. Following were ▲Hyundai Motor (174,952) ▲LG (158,791) ▲SK (117,438), all exceeding 100,000 employees. Next in employment size were ▲Lotte (83,179) ▲Coupang (72,763) ▲Shinsegae (72,446) ▲KT (58,049) ▲CJ (52,931) ▲Hanwha (42,378), ranking among the top 10 groups by employment size.

Among the 2,886 domestic affiliates within the 76 large business groups designated by the Fair Trade Commission, 28 (1.2%) had more than 10,000 employees as of last year, down by two from 30 the previous year. Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance (from 10,214 to 9,557) and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (from 10,518 to 9,741) dropped out of the ‘10,000 Employees Club’ last year.

Among the ‘10,000 Employees Club,’ Samsung Electronics was the only single company with more than 100,000 employees, totaling 109,253. Following were ▲Hyundai Motor (71,880) ▲Coupang Fulfillment Services (46,306) ▲LG Electronics (38,388) ▲Kia (30,120), making up the top five in employment. Notably, Coupang Fulfillment Services increased its workforce from 19,962 in 2020 to 46,306 in one year, adding 26,644 jobs and playing a leading role in Coupang Group’s employment growth. The top 10 large companies by employment size last year also included 6th SK Hynix (29,641), 7th LG Display (28,313), 8th E-Mart (28,000), 9th Coupang Corporation (25,188), and 10th Lotte Shopping (23,157).

Oh Il-seon, director of the Korea CXO Institute, said, “Although large companies have continuously announced plans for large-scale hiring in the past, the increase in new hires is offset by existing employees leaving the company, so the actual employment size is not significantly increasing. For domestic employment to continue growing in the future business environment, it is crucial to expand the workforce not only in traditional manufacturing but also in IT-based logistics, distribution, service industries, and new business sectors.”

Meanwhile, the survey targeted 76 large business groups designated by the Fair Trade Commission this year with assets exceeding 5 trillion won. Employment figures were based on disclosures filed with the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system as of the end of December last year.

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