CJ Group has topped the list of job creation among Korea’s top 30 conglomerates over the past year, according to data released on Thursday.

CJ was followed by SK and Samsung, Lotte and Hyundai Department Store Group.

The rankings were based on comparable quarterly reports submitted by 267 companies belonging to the top 30 conglomerates. Data compiled by CEO Score, a Korean watch site on corporate management, showed their combined payroll at 984,901 at the end of September, up by 11,187 persons, or 1.1 percent, from a year ago.

CJ Group’s payrolls showed a sharp rise of a whopping 28.2 percent, or 5,849 persons, to 26,555 persons over the past year. The increase was largely driven by CJ Freshway’s large-scale conversion of temporary workers into full-timers. The business group was followed by SK (up 9.4 percent, 5,239 persons) and Samsung (up 2.6 percent, 4,980 persons), Lotte (up 5.0 percent, 3,077 persons) and Hyundai Department Store (up 14.7 percent, 1,484 persons).

Per individual companies, Samsung Electronics ranked first in job creation by hiring 3,187 persons (up 3.2 percent) in the past year. It was followed by CJ Freshway (up 89.5 percent, 3,033 persons) and SK Hynix (up 11.2 percent, 2,611 persons).

Meanwhile, the number of full-time employees hired by the top 30 conglomerates was 926,502 persons, up by 15,427 persons, or 1.7 percent, from a year ago, while temporary workers totaled 58,399 persons, down by 4,240 persons, or 6.8 percent, suggesting an improvement in the employment quality at large companies.

By Kang Doo-soon and Minu Kim

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]