Food-to-entertainment conglomerate pledges 13,000 new jobs, ramps up regional investment over three years
CJ Group said Wednesday it would hire 13,000 new employees and invest 4.2 trillion won ($2.9 billion) in Korea over three years, underlining its commitment to support young job seekers and regional economic growth.
The Korean food-to-entertainment conglomerate said the decision was based on corporate social responsibility. CJ Group Chair Lee Jay-hyun has long emphasized that a corporation must be a place that lays the groundwork for youth to fulfill their dreams, as CJ operates businesses capable of hiring lots of people. In line with the group chief’s management principle, CJ has created quality jobs for liberal arts graduates in a job market where science and engineering majors are often preferred.
According to CJ, about 71 percent of its newly hired employees were aged 34 or younger, reflecting the group’s continued focus on job creation for the younger generation. Over the past three years, the proportion of new hires aged 34 or younger exceeded 70 percent. CJ said it plans to expand the number of recruits by 20 percent this year.
CJ highlighted the appeal of businesses such as CJ Olive Young and CJ ENM to young employees. For instance, CJ Olive Young hired almost 1,000 new employees last year in line with the expansion of the Korean beauty sector.
According to the employment data based on subscriber changes at the National Pension Service, CJ Olive Young was the company with the largest number of increased NPS subscribers among Korea’s 500 largest companies
The company has maintained its traditional recruitment process of entry-level hires while other major Korean firms shifted to rolling recruitment after the COVID-19 pandemic led to severe economic uncertainty.
Alongside hiring new young employees, CJ unveiled a plan to increase investment in regional production and logistics footholds this year by 45 percent from 2025 to 1.5 trillion. The firm noted that it will also strengthen investment in areas outside the Greater Seoul area of the capital, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province to bolster and revive regional economies.
CJ has already contributed to regional employment through large-scale infrastructure projects, including the CJ Blossom Campus — the country’s largest food manufacturing facility built with an investment of about 1 trillion won in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province. The company also operates major logistics hubs run by CJ Logistics in Daejeon, Okcheon and Cheongwon. CJ said it plans to accelerate regional investment by expanding processed food production facilities, investing in new logistics hubs and opening new stores in regions outside Seoul and its surrounding areas.
“Going beyond just the scale of hiring, we will nurture talents who work with willingness, joy and pride and can contribute to bolstering global competitiveness in various fields such as K-content, K-food and K-beauty while creating a corporate culture that offers endless challenges for them,” said a CJ Group official.
hwkan@heraldcorp.com
