Homeplus refuted the claims regarding workforce reductions after acquisition made during the discussion titled, 'What is the problem with hostile M&A (mergers and acquisitions) by private equity funds?' held at the National Assembly on the 8th.

The view of Homeplus headquarters. /Courtesy of Homeplus

Homeplus stated in the materials distributed that day, 'The claims made by lawyer Cho Hye-jin, one of the presenters at the National Assembly discussion on January 8, are not true.'

During the same discussion, lawyer Cho pointed out, 'When MBK acquired Homeplus in 2015, the number of directly employed workers at Homeplus was 25,000, but it decreased to 19,500 last year. The number of employees at partner companies also decreased by about 4,000.' Cho added, 'Employees are experiencing labor shortages as Homeplus has not raised wages and has not replaced naturally declining personnel.'

In response, Homeplus acknowledged, 'It is true that the number of employees has decreased compared to 2015; however, the reduction in large store workforce is a common situation in the industry,' adding, 'Due to excessive regulations on large stores leading to significant decreases in sales, the demand for workforce has also reduced, resulting in a trend of declining staff across all three major retailers.'

According to Homeplus, the workforce has decreased by 661 employees over the past three years, the smallest reduction among the three major retailers during the same period.

Homeplus also refuted lawyer Cho's claim raised during the discussion regarding 'mass resignations of employees due to store closures after the sale of real estate assets,' stating, 'This is not true.'

Homeplus added, 'Since being acquired by the fund operated by MBK in 2015, we have never conducted artificial restructuring,' noting, 'On the contrary, we have been providing employment stability incentives to help employees in asset liquidation stores adapt to changes smoothly.'

It further stated, 'We express deep regret that the presenters at the public discussion hosted by the National Assembly announced the union's unilateral claims as if they were facts without verifying the truth,' adding, 'We hope that such incidents do not occur again.'