Top 30 chaebol plan to splurge on job creation

A group of Korea’s largest conglomerates said yesterday that they will spend a total of 120.4 trillion won ($108 billion) in 2012 on job creation, hoping to boost the economy as part of nation-wide efforts to overcome the deepening global economic woes.

Korea’s top 30 companies will invest 94 trillion won in facilities and 26.4 trillion won in research and development this year, up 9.6 percent from the previous year, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said.

The powerful lobbying group for the country’s family-owned businesses also said that conglomerates want to hire 136,000 new workers in 2012, including 41,000 high school graduates.

“We agreed that job creation is the foremost task for resolving social conflicts and sustaining healthy economic growth. So, we will make concerted efforts to create jobs,” said the FKI in a statement released after a meeting.

They will help the so-called post-war baby boomers, who were born between 1955 and 1964, get new jobs. Most have started to retire this year.

The FKI reiterated its earlier resolution on responsibility for economic stability and social integration adopted last month. It said the companies will strive to stabilize the economy and improve the livelihood of ordinary people in the face of the persistent economic slowdown. Korea’s economy is expected to grow 3.7 percent on-year in 2012, down from 3.8 percent growth reached last year.

The country’s large conglomerates have come under fire for monopolizing the benefits of economic growth and making no efforts to create jobs.

The Seoul government has pressed large businesses to take part in its shared growth campaign, designed to encourage large conglomerates to share some of their profits with their smaller businesses that supply parts and other services. Yonhap