KB News Desk
Employment at Korea’s leading companies stayed virtually unchanged from 2023, report says
South Korea’s largest companies saw double-digit growth in revenue and operating profit over the past three years, while their combined workforce remained largely unchanged, an analysis showed Tuesday.
Corporate tracker Leaders Index analyzed 282 of the country’s 500 largest companies by revenue for which comparable business and employment data were available.
Their combined workforce increased just 0.2 percent, from 1,299,333 employees at the end of 2023 to 1,302,191 at the end of 2025.
Over the same period, combined revenue rose 10.9 percent to 3,684.3 trillion won ($2.5 trillion), while operating profit surged 81 percent from 153.4 trillion won to 277.7 trillion won.
The analysis found that changes in employment were more closely correlated with revenue growth than with operating profit.
The automobile, steel, rechargeable battery and transportation sectors expanded their workforces as revenue increased, despite declines in operating profit.
By contrast, employment fell in telecommunications, retail, food and beverage, banking and securities, where revenue either declined or grew by only single digits, regardless of changes in operating profit.
The shipbuilding and machinery sector recorded the largest increase in employment, with its workforce rising 12.6 percent from 84,550 to 95,179. The pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector followed with an 11.5 percent increase.
The electronics and information technology sector, including semiconductors, showed a more limited increase in employment compared with its business performance.
Driven by strong results at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the sector’s revenue rose 34.4 percent and operating profit soared 2,740.5 percent. Its workforce, however, increased by just 1,727 employees, or 0.6 percent.
Job losses were particularly pronounced in industries dependent on domestic demand.
The telecommunications sector recorded the largest decline in employment. Its revenue and operating profit increased slightly by 4.2 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively, while its workforce fell by 6,358 employees, or 17.6 percent.
The food and beverage sector also posted increases of 3.9 percent in revenue and 2 percent in operating profit, but its workforce decreased by 2,730 employees, or 4.8 percent.
