S. Korea: Workers Shunning Shipbuilding Companies

The number of regular employees of Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries fell from 27,392 to 26,328 in the first quarter of this year and from 28,166 in one year.

According to industry sources, those who left the shipbuilders in the first quarter include a lot of those who opted to do so before the retirement age and their reasons include a dim future, high work intensity, and inadequate pay.

The employee count decreased by 509 in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, 431 in Hyundai Heavy Industries and 124 in Samsung Heavy Industries.

“In a lot of shipbuilders, annual salary increase has been 0 percent for years,” said an industry source, adding, “This year, the ratio of those who voluntarily left increased a lot, they include a lot of young workers, and most of them found a new job in the other industries including construction and engineering.”

Concerns are rising over the employee management of the shipbuilders. This is because the companies won a lot of orders last year and this year. Shipbuilding processes for last year’s contracts are to be started soon and take a couple of years.
Source: Business Korea