Employment Declines at the Four Major Conglomerates, Driven by the Spread of AI and Automation

Employment at the four major groups represented by Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, and LG has been found to have declined over the past year. According to a survey by the Korea CXO Research Institute on changes in employment at 102 large business groups with assets of more than 5 trillion won, the four major groups alone saw a decrease of about 12,300 people. According to the article, Samsung cut 931 jobs, SK 3,699, Hyundai Motor 2,375, and LG 5,370. It was analyzed that, unlike the strong performance of the semiconductor industry, weakness in some key sectors such as petrochemicals and secondary batteries, as well as the largescale retirement of the baby boomer generation, affected the decline in employment. On the other hand, Coupang added 8,250 employees over the past year due to its logistics expansion, marking one of the largest increases in employment among large business groups. The article pointed out that the introduction of artificial intelligence and automation is bringing structural changes to the creation of new jobs at large corporations.