Korea Employers Federation: "69% of Companies Expect More Unstable Labor-Management Relations Next Year"

Two out of three companies expect labor-management relations to become more unstable next year due to employment stability issues such as retirement age extension.

On the 26th, the Korea Employers Federation announced that it conducted the '2025 Labor-Management Relations Outlook Survey' from the 25th of last month to the 6th of this month targeting its member companies, yielding these results. According to the survey, 69.3% of the 150 responding companies anticipated that labor-management relations would become more unstable. This was the second highest rate in the past five years of labor-management relations outlook surveys, following 2023 (70.4%).

Provided by Korea Employers Federation

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The biggest concern in labor-management relations was cited as "diversification of labor union demands such as wage increases and retirement age extension" (59.6%). This was followed by ▲increased restructuring due to worsening economic conditions and related labor struggles (18.3%) ▲increased political struggles by labor groups (10.6%) ▲increased attempts at labor-friendly legislation (3.8%) ▲increased labor-management related lawsuits and rulings (3.8%), in that order.

In next year's collective bargaining negotiations, retirement age extension (34.6%) and employment stability (19.5%) are expected to be major issues. The report explained, "This year’s negotiations also saw demands for retirement age extension mainly from large company unions such as Hyundai Motor and POSCO," adding, "With an expected economic downturn due to sluggish domestic demand and changes in the trade environment, conflicts related to restructuring in industrial sites are feared to increase." Other major issues included expansion of union activities (11.9%), workforce replenishment (10.1%), and reduction of working hours (8.2%).

Prospects for Key Issues in the 2025 Labor-Management Negotiations. Provided by Korea Employers Federation

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When asked about the labor policies companies hope to see promoted next year, the most common response was "flexible operation of working hours, including expanding labor-management options for working hours" (32.4%). This was followed by ▲"easing employment rigidity such as relaxing regulations on dispatch and fixed-term workers" (21.1%) ▲"amendment of the Labor Union Act to prohibit workplace occupation and allow substitute labor" (15.6%) ▲"support for reforming wage systems centered on job and performance" (12.7%), in that order.

Jang Jung-woo, head of the Labor-Management Cooperation Division at the Korea Employers Federation, stated, "Companies have shown great concern about labor-management instability in addition to recent economic and political uncertainties," adding, "To overcome economic crises and social turmoil, labor-management cooperation is essential, and now more than ever, wisdom to solve problems through dialogue is urgently needed."

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