Despite Stellar Earnings, Four Major Groups See Job Losses... Samsung's Workforce Shrinks for First Time in 8 Years

Korea CXO Institute's Analysis of Major Conglomerate Employment

Overall Growth Rate Stagnates at 0.4%

Coupang Joins "100,000 Jobs Club" for the First Time, Surpassing SK

Despite the robust growth in size and operating profits of South Korea's leading conglomerates, their job creation capacity has effectively stagnated. In particular, it has been found that the four major groups that drive the Korean economy have collectively lost more than 12,000 jobs. Analysts say that a decoupling between the financial growth of large corporations and job expansion is becoming a pronounced trend.

The Korea CXO Institute, a corporate analysis specialist, announced on June 22 the results of its analysis titled "Employment Fluctuation Trends of 102 Business Groups for 2024–2025." The study was conducted on 102 large business groups with assets of 5 trillion won or more, as designated this year by the Fair Trade Commission. Based on data disclosed by the Fair Trade Commission on the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system, the institute compiled the number of employees at domestic affiliates as of December.

According to the survey, the total number of executives and employees at the 3,538 domestic affiliates of the 102 business groups designated by the Fair Trade Commission this year increased by only 8,170, from 1,912,302 two years ago to 1,920,472 last year. The employment growth rate stood at a mere 0.4%, indicating an effective stagnation in hiring. This figure is less than a quarter of the 1.8% employment growth rate recorded by 92 large conglomerates in the previous survey.

Even this result reflects a statistical illusion. The main factor behind the increase in overall employment was Ourhome, which has more than 10,000 employees, being incorporated into the Hanwha Group last year. Excluding these employees, the total employment across the 102 groups has essentially entered a decline. The jobs created by large corporations accounted for only 12.2% of the nation’s total employment insurance subscribers—15,555,839 as of December last year—indicating that a significant portion of domestic employment is still supported by small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed business owners.

Of the 102 groups studied, 47 increased their workforce over the past year, while 44 saw declines. The business group with the largest job increase was Hanwha Group, which boosted its workforce by 14,324, from 57,387 two years ago to 71,711 last year, raising its ranking in group employment from ninth to seventh place.

Coupang Group also showed a remarkable growth trend. Coupang increased its headcount by 8,250 in the past year, reaching a total of 108,131 employees and joining the "100,000 jobs club" for the first time. With this, Coupang surpassed SK Group to become the fourth-largest group in terms of employment scale.

In contrast, LG Group experienced the sharpest wave of layoffs. Its workforce shrank by 5,370, from 149,459 two years ago to 144,089 last year, recording a 3.6% decrease. This is attributed to overall contraction in employment across key affiliates such as LG Electronics, LG Display, LG Chem, LG Uplus, and LG Innotek.

By group, Samsung maintained a commanding lead with 283,830 employees, but after a seven-year streak of employment growth since 2017, its workforce fell by 931 compared to the previous year in 2025, marking its first decline in eight years. Hyundai Motor followed with 201,540 employees, LG with 144,089, Coupang with 108,131, and SK with 104,602—together forming the "100,000 jobs club."

The paradox is that, except for Coupang, the other four traditional major groups—Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, and LG—all saw decreases in employment over the past year, despite growth in both sales and operating profits. The number of jobs lost within these four groups alone totals 12,375.

O Il-seon, head of the Korea CXO Institute, noted, "As AI becomes more widespread, the link between corporate profit growth and job expansion is weakening." He added, "It is likely that the traditional pattern of large corporations increasing jobs through mass recruitment, as seen during the manufacturing-driven growth era, will become increasingly limited." He continued, "As the AI era accelerates, startups and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises are likely to emerge as the main engines for new job creation."

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