[THE INVESTOR]  More than 5,700 employees left Samsung Group in the first half after its five affiliates -- Samsung SDI, Samsung Electro-mechanics, Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung Engineering and Samsung C&T Corporation -- launched voluntary retirement schemes.

According to their semi-annual reports released Thursday, the total number of employees at the five firms fell by around 10 percent, from 54,988 in December to 49,259 in June this year.

By affiliate, Samsung SDI, which has recently separated its chemical business, saw the largest job cuts. Its number of employees was down by 15 percent, falling from 11,084 to 9,422. The battery-maker sold all of its chemical stakes to Lotte Chemical for 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) early this year.

Samsung Heavy Industries, which is seeking a self-rescue plan worth 1.5 trillion won, lost 11.5 percent of its employees, with 12,355 now. The ailing shipbuilder posted an operating loss of 283.7 billion won in the second quarter due mainly to the compensation given to the retirees.

Samsung Electro-mechanics, which implemented a voluntary retirement scheme for employees with 10 or more years of seniority, also saw a 6.8 percent reduction to reach 10,977. Last year, the electronics parts maker carried out business reshuffles including selling its hard disk drive motor part business and spinning off some of its least profitable businesses including those related to power, tuners and electronic shelf labels.

Samsung C&T Corp. also launched a voluntary retirement scheme mainly for its construction sector. In June, the construction and trading firm held its third briefing for employees in manager positions and above. Its number of employees was reduced by 7.5 percent to reach 11,173.

As for Samsung Engineering, 5,332 employees were left after a 12.2 percent cut and Samsung Electronics had 95,420, following a 1.5 percent cut.


By Shin Ji-hye/The Korea Herald (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)