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Key Points

South Korea's top four business groups have experienced significant financial growth in recent years, with combined assets reaching 1,444.8 trillion won in 2024. Despite impressive profit increases of 30.8%, these conglomerates have maintained nearly static employment levels, rising marginally from 745,000 to 746,000 employees. The top 30 conglomerates show a slightly different trend, with overall employment growing by 8.8% during the same period. This trend highlights a potential disconnect between corporate financial performance and job creation in the South Korean business landscape.

Key Points: Samsung SK Hyundai LG Assets Surge Without Job Growth

  • Samsung and SK lead 53% asset growth among Korean conglomerates
  • Net profits rise 30.8% from 2022-2024
  • Employee count remains virtually unchanged at 746,000
2 min read

Assets, profits of top 4 biz groups rise in S. Korea, but employment stays flat

Top South Korean business groups see massive asset and profit increases, but employment remains stagnant despite economic expansion

"The increase in assets and profits has not led to a parallel rise in hiring - Leaders Index Report"

Seoul, May 20

South Korea's top four biggest business groups -- Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor and LG -- have seen significant growth in assets and net profits over the past three years but little change in employment levels, a market tracker said on Tuesday.

The combined assets of the top four business groups totalled 1,444.8 trillion won (US$1,039 billion) in 2024, up from 1,360 trillion won in 2023 and 1,255.7 trillion won in 2022, according to the Leaders Index.

Their assets have been on a steady rise since topping the 1,000 trillion-won mark in 2019, reports Yonhap news agency.

The big four's combined assets accounted for 53.1 percent of the total assets held by the country's 30 largest conglomerates in 2024.

Their net profit also soared 30.8 percent over the 2022-2024 period, while the top 30's net profit edged up 0.8 percent.

However, the Leaders Index noted that the increase in assets and profits has not led to a parallel rise in hiring.

The number of employees in the top four groups remained nearly unchanged, rising from 745,000 in 2022 to 746,000 in 2024.

The 30 largest groups, on the other hand, saw their total number of employees increase by 8.8 percent over the period, from 1.4 million to 1.52 million.

Meanwhile, the value of South Korea's virtual asset market nearly doubled in the second half of last year from six months earlier, on rising prices of cryptocurrencies, data showed on Tuesday.

The market capitalisation of the virtual asset market had come to 107.7 trillion won ($77.6 billion) as of end-2024, up 51.2 trillion won, or 91 percent from six months ago, according to the data from the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

The total value of Korean won deposits made by traders also jumped 114 percent to 10.7 trillion won, while the operating profit of market operators advanced 28 percent to 742 billion won over the cited period.

There had been 25 virtual asset market operators in South Korea as of end-2024, including 17 crypto exchanges, according to the financial regulator.

In the six months ended December 31, the average value of daily crypto transactions reached 7.3 trillion won, up 22 percent from the daily average of 6 trillion won in the first half of 2024, according to the FSC.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

R
Rahul K.
This shows how corporate greed works globally - profits soar but job creation stagnates. Indian conglomerates should learn from this and focus more on employment generation. Our youth need opportunities! 🇮🇳
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Priya M.
Interesting to see South Korea's virtual asset market booming while traditional businesses don't create jobs. In India, we're seeing similar trends with startups vs old business houses. Maybe it's time for policy changes to link profits with employment quotas?
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Arjun S.
The chaebol system in Korea seems similar to our business families controlling major sectors. But at least their companies are globally competitive. We need our corporates to scale up like Samsung while creating more jobs. Make in India should mean jobs in India!
S
Sunita R.
Crypto boom in Korea is fascinating! 🚀 India should also create balanced regulations for digital assets instead of extreme caution. But we must ensure common investors don't get burned like in the past.
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Vikram J.
While criticizing Korean companies, let's not forget our own Ambanis and Adanis who also prioritize profits over employment. The article makes me wonder - is this the future of capitalism everywhere? Workers left behind while billionaires get richer.
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Neha P.
The data shows smaller Korean companies created more jobs than the big 4. Same lesson for India - we need to support MSMEs more! They're the real job creators, not the mega corporations.

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