Hanwha Ocean to add workers, enhance benefits to improve core business

[Courtesy of Hanwha Ocean]

South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean Co., formerly known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., is poised to hire new employees for the first time after it was acquired by the country’s seventh-biggest conglomerate Hanwha Group, to strengthen its shipbuilding design as well as research and development capabilities to improve its competitiveness.

According to sources from the shipbuilding industry on Monday, Hanwha Ocean plans to announce job openings for entry-level and experienced positions, including engineers, this month. The company expects the number of new hires to reach three to four times that of previous years by the end of this year through a combination of regular and non-scheduled recruitment. Last year, Hanwha Ocean hired about 200 people and at the end of March, it had more than 8,200 employees excluding fixed-term employees.

“The specific number of new hires has not been decided yet, but we plan to hire on a large-scale, regardless of career experience,” said an unnamed Hanwha Ocean official. “This year will be a year for the company to focus on securing talent to become a global leading marine and energy company. We will focus on hiring top-notch talent, especially in the fields of design and R&D.”

Hanwha Ocean has suffered an exodus of talent to fall behind its local rivals HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. in terms of employee welfare and benefits, including wage, raising concerns about the company’s competitiveness in the advanced shipbuilding sector.

In fact, more than 400 people left the company last year, with about 160 of them moving to other shipbuilders. In addition, there were a number of employees who moved to other industries such as semiconductors and batteries. As a result, the number of Hanwha Ocean employees excluding fixed-term employees is the smallest compared with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ 12,000 employees and Samsung Heavy Industries’ 8,600.

In this regard, industry insiders are paying close attention to how much salary Hanwha Ocean will offer to new hires. On Monday, the shipbuilder held an explanatory session on its wage system reform plan for executives and employees, including engineers in design, R&D and process management. The reform plan is expected to be finalized within this month through a vote by executives and employees, according to the official.

The core of the reform plan is to raise basic salaries to match the wage level of office workers at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries. In particular, the company is considering introducing a production allowance for the first time in the industry and providing job allowances and fuel cost support. The company plans to increase fixed salaries by reducing and converting overlapping allowances for vacations and holidays to basic salaries, according to the official.

This means that the company is taking steps to improve its treatment of employees prior to the planned massive recruitment of new hires in the belief that it can attract talent only when it treats them at least as well as its competitors.