Major Businesses to Cut Hiring Further

Job seekers are expected to have an even harder time this year as major businesses plan to scale back recruitment.

Employment portal JobKorea said Tuesday a survey of the country's top 500 companies found they plan to hire a combined 14,029 college graduates this year, down 10.1 percent from last year.

A total of 316 of the 500 companies responded to the survey.

In a separate survey of the nation’s top 10 businesses conducted by the Chosun Ilbo, Hyundai Motor was the only one that planned to increase hiring. The automaker expects to add 300 more employees than last year to take in a total of 7,600 new staff.

Samsung, LG, SK and POSCO are all either planning to take in a similar level of new hires or have yet to set this year's target. Hanjin Group plans to hire 460 fewer new workers, while Lotte Group said it would scale back hiring slightly.

Economic uncertainties and rising labor costs have prompted businesses to set conservative hiring goals, pundits say.