Job Outlook Is Slightly Brighter

According to “The hiring outlook survey for the second half of 2005” conducted by Job Korea, an online recruiting company (www.jobkorea.co.kr), of 338 out of 500 of the largest domestic companies in terms of sales revenue, 164 companies were found to have plans to hire new employees this year, while 101 companies have no hiring plans for the latter half of this year, and 61 haven’t decided yet. Twelve companies didn’t reply.

The size of the hiring is expected to vary widely, depending on revenue and the type of business each company is in.

Among the undecided companies are large conglomerates including Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Kia Motors, Hynix Semiconductor and Hyosung. So the number of the newly employed will be larger than the current expectations.

By the type of business, shipbuilding, heavy industries, finance and IT companies are planning to employ more this year than last year. In contrast, service, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and petrochemical industries are planning to reduce hiring this year compared to last year.

The confirmed size of the hiring is; 5,670 for electric and electronics industry, 1,396 for the finance industry, 1,233 for the petrochemical industry and 1,075 for the food and beverage industry.

As for individual companies, LG Electronics will employ 1,000 through a year-round hiring system beginning in September. Recruiting will start in September and October at Doosan group, Hyosung, Yuhan Corporation and Korea Development Bank, and in November at Ottogi, Korea Yakult and Shinsegae.

The SK group announced on August 28 that it will hire 1,100 university graduates, including 500 with work experience in the latter half of this year. Its 12 affiliates, to name a few, SK, SK Telecom and SK Networks, will announce their employment plan on the group’s hiring site (www.joinsk.co.kr) and receive applications between September 1 and 14.

Kim Hwa-soo, the president of Job Korea, said, “The job market is expected to polarize depending on the size and type of business this year as was the case last year,” adding, “Job seekers are advised to look for jobs more aggressively in September and October when the top 100 companies start hiring.”

Jae-Dong Yu jarrett@donga.com