Workforce at automakers rises 8.6 pct in past 5 years

SEOUL, April 17 (Yonhap) -- The number of workers at South Korea's five complete carmakers has risen 8.6 percent in the past five years, a report showed Monday.

The overall workforce at the five carmakers -- Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM Korea Co., SsangYong Motor Co. and Renault Samsung Motors Corp. -- reached 126,723 employees at the end of 2016, up from 116,714 at end-2011, according to the companies' annual business reports.

Workers at Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors and SsangYong Motor increased in the five years, offsetting job cuts at GM Korea and Renault Samsung, the data showed.

Hyundai and Kia saw their workforce gain 18 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively, to 67,517 and 34,102 during the same period. SsangYong Motor's workforce jumped 12 percent to 4,833 as it has rehired former workers helped by strong demand for new SUV models.

But Renault Samsung and GM Korea cut their workers 26 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, to 4,240 and 16,031, as their sales declined due to a lack of new models during the cited period, the data said.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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