Major Conglomerates Cut Back on New Hires

One in three major conglomerates plan to cut back on new hires this year.

The Korea Economic Research Institute said Sunday that a survey by Research and Research of 131 of the 500 biggest companies showed 33.6 percent plan to hire fewer new staff while only 17.5 percent intend to recruit more.

The proportion of businesses that will cut back increased nine percentage points from last year, but those planning to recruit more also rose 6.3 percentage points.

About half of the companies that are cutting back blamed deteriorating economic conditions both in Korea and abroad, 25 percent internal problems and 15.9 percent the rising minimum wage.