SK Broadband's total headcount fell by more than 7% after two rounds of voluntary retirement in recent months. The move is also seen as influenced by the company's decision to reassign 13 Director General-level employees in their 50s at the Seoul headquarters to regional posts ahead of the second round of applications in December last year, after they did not apply in the first round.
According to ChosunBiz reporting on the 6th, about 190 people left SK Broadband through two rounds of voluntary retirement carried out in October and December last year. About 130 left in the first round and about 60 in the second. That is about 7.3% of the total workforce (about 2,600). SK Broadband accepted applications from employees aged 50 or older or with at least 15 years of service. The severance package varied by years of service, with a maximum of 500 million won.
SK Broadband carried out voluntary retirement because of the high average age of its employees. Union leader Yun Se-hong of SK Broadband said, "The average age of SK Broadband employees is over 48. For example, the average age of SK Stoa employees is about 36, which is a big difference from us," adding, "With public debate underway on extending the retirement age, we needed to create room to hire new employees for new businesses such as artificial intelligence (AI)." He added, "Setting the severance package as high as 500 million won was intended to let employees decide to leave voluntarily, and we also demanded that entry-level hiring be expanded significantly starting this year."
SK Broadband said it moved quickly to a second round of voluntary retirement about a month later because employees who held Head of Team positions during the first round were excluded from eligibility, and the company wanted to give them a chance. A person familiar with SK Broadband said, "Internally, the goal was to accept more than 250 voluntary retirements, but only about 130 applied in the first round," adding, "I understand there was pressure to meet the internal target in the second round."
Ahead of accepting applications for the second round of voluntary retirement in December last year, SK Broadband reassigned 13 Director General-level employees in their 50s from the Seoul headquarters to regional posts. They had not applied in the first round. It was confirmed that some of those reassigned to places such as Busan and Gwangju left in the second round. SK Broadband said, "We reached an agreement with the union and wrapped up the voluntary retirement smoothly without coercion."