The number of employees has dropped by more than 5,500! The employment in the Korean retail market is polarized

According to a survey, the number of jobs at traditional retail giants in South Korea dropped sharply last year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The total number of employees at retail subsidiaries of 10 major companies, including Lotte, Shinsegae, Hyundai, and GS, decreased by more than 5,500 . On the contrary, rapidly growing e-commerce companies are recruiting information technology (IT) and logistics talents on a large scale .

The number of employees declined last year was four times that of 2019

As of the 17th of this month, the Korea Economic Daily counted the number of employees at the end of last year at 10 listed retail companies that submitted their business reports .

The results showed that Hyundai Department Store added 90 employees after opening two high-end stores last year and a new department store called Hyundai Seoul last month . Except for Hyundai Department Store, the number of employees in the other nine companies all decreased.

Due to store restructuring and other reasons, a large number of employees working in large supermarkets and hypermarkets have resigned . The total number of employees of these 10 companies last year was 71,444, a decrease of 5,507 from 76,951 at the end of 2019. This reduction is more than four times the reduction in 2019 (1,320 people).

E-commerce companies are experiencing a recruitment boom

Unlike traditional retail companies, the situation is different for e-commerce companies , which have seen their financial conditions improve as non-face-to-face consumption in South Korea has rapidly increased and expanded due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus .

Coupang and Market Kurly, which have their own logistics delivery channels , are greatly increasing their logistics manpower. Coupang said in its listing report that it hired 25,000 people last year , most of whom were formal delivery staff. Coupang plans to increase its headcount by 50,000 by 2025.

Morning courier company Market Kurly had 1,048 employees at the end of last year , up 191 % from 360 the previous year.

In addition to logistics personnel, the competition for talents such as developers and product planners (MD) has also been very fierce recently. Since the beginning of this year, TMON has been recruiting more than three digits in various departments of the company . A TMON official said: "In order to improve the competitiveness of the platform, the development department plans to recruit as much as possible by the end of this year."

Last month, SSG.com , a comprehensive online shopping website of Shinsegae Group , also announced double-digit job openings in 15 fields, mainly in the IT development field. This is reportedly the largest job opening since its establishment in 2019. Even eBay Korea, which recently entered the sale phase, conducted large-scale open recruitment in the first half of the year.

Retail

Employment

COVID-19