Korean companies are turning to remote hiring processes to resume recruitment disrupted by the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

According to industry sources, major companies are shifting recruitment procedures online, replacing face-to-face interviews with video interviews to keep applicants safe and to curb the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak. The increasingly important trend of minimizing contact has been encompassed in the “untact” movement -- to “undo contact” where possible.

Line Plus, a subsidiary of the Naver-owned Line Corp., said Tuesday it would conduct all recruitment procedures online to ensure the well-being of applicants.

"Line Plus will forgo offline tests so applicants will only have to take online coding tests. Both first and final rounds of interviews will be conducted via an online conference system," the company said.

“However, should the situation improve, online interviews can be changed into offline interviews.”

Korean software developer ESTsoft recently posted a pop-up message on its recruitment website notifying applicants it would be conducting all interviews online in its open recruitment drive planned for the first half of this year, due to safety concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak.

LG Electronics is currently using video interviews in its first round of screening for applicants with work experience, while Kakao is planning to convert all interviews to the web for its job openings, according to job search portal Incruit.

SK Innovation, an energy solution affiliate of SK Group, said Wednesday it would employ video interviews for its recruitment currently in process, as part of an effort to participate in the “social distancing” movement recommended amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

“To revitalize the stagnant job market, SK Innovation has decided to take a preemptive action by proceeding with recruitment plans,” said Kim Sang-ho, head of human resources development.

On top of video interviews, the “untact” recruitment drive has triggered companies to turn to online platforms in providing job information to applicants.

SK Group recently said it will not hold offline job fairs from this year, introducing a new form of online job fair instead.

Lotte Group, whose open recruitment for the first half of this year began Friday, created the YouTube channel “L-RecruiTV,” where employees in different positions upload daily videos.

Meanwhile, Korean steelmaker Posco said Wednesday it will upload a video of its human resources manager answering questions from applicants on its official YouTube channel “PoscoTV” in March. The company previously uploaded a video of a new employee receiving education at its training facility in February.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)