Despite Record High Sales, Voluntary Retirement?… Kyobo Bookstore "Part of Structural Improvement"

Kyobo Bookstore has implemented its first voluntary retirement program, describing it as part of a "structural improvement." The company stated that this measure is aimed at expanding its scope beyond the traditional book distribution business to develop a comprehensive content business by discovering and diversifying content.

원본보기 아이콘

According to Kyobo Bookstore, the recent voluntary retirement program is part of this structural improvement. A Kyobo Bookstore representative said, “We expanded the Paju logistics center and equipped it with advanced automation facilities. We invested about 100 billion KRW in building systems to strengthen competitiveness in the digital era,” adding, “This voluntary retirement also involves personnel reallocation accordingly.”

He continued, “Last year, we recorded the highest sales ever. This voluntary retirement is not due to limitations in the paper book business,” and explained, “We are attempting new changes.” According to the audit report, Kyobo Bookstore achieved record sales of 832.4 billion KRW last year, a 5% increase from 790.9 billion KRW the previous year. However, due to large-scale investments, operating losses amounted to 13.9 billion KRW, resulting in a deficit.

The voluntary retirement targets employees aged 40 and above with more than 10 years of service. Out of 1,100 total employees, about 500 (approximately 45%) are eligible. Those with less than 15 years of service will receive 20 months’ worth of base salary in addition to severance pay, while those with more than 15 years will receive 24 months’ worth of base salary. A transition support fund of 10 million KRW and up to 20 million KRW in tuition support for children are also provided.

The vacancies created by the voluntary retirement will be filled by experts in content discovery and diversification. In particular, efforts will be focused on strengthening the story business through the serialized web novel platform “Toksoda” (Tok Sso-neun Web Novel Yeogida) and the writing platform “Changjak-ui Nalssi,” which aims to bridge the gap between pure literature and popular literature. The plan is to oversee the entire process from original content discovery to video production to increase added value.

A Kyobo Bookstore representative said, “If we previously viewed only books as content, now the scope is diversifying,” and added, “Since the growth rate of original works being adapted into videos is high, we plan to continuously develop and strengthen the story business (contests).”

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.