Hyundai Motor Group, the country’s second-largest group by assets, on Monday pledged to hire 46,000 youths over the next three years.

“It is our group’s duty to expand our business to create more jobs so the young people can make use of their talent,” said Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun during a meeting with Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum.

“We will put a lot more effort to allow youths to execute their capabilities through collaborative projects involving schools, since we have a lot of new businesses that we are starting,” Chung added.

Hyundai Motor Group is the sixth conglomerate here to pledge job creation for youths under the government’s “Youth Hope ON” job and education support program following KT, Samsung, LG, SK and Posco. 

The automaker’s recruitment drive has so far topped that of LG, who plans on creating 39,000 jobs, followed by Samsung (30,000), SK (27,000) and Posco (25,000).

According to the automaker, 3,400 young people will be recruited through its internship program called H-Experience, while 5,600 talents will be recruited through an industry-university collaborative program for technical roles. Another 6,000 jobs will be set aside for bachelor and master’s degree students studying engineering. Through this kind of talent discovering program, the company plans to recruit at least 5,000 young people annually. 

Besides, some 1,000 jobs in the startup sectors and philanthropic business sectors will be sponsored through its startup investment program, Zero One, and the group’s Chung Mong-koo Foundation. 

As of the end of the third quarter, Hyundai Motor Group has employed 71,666 people, 1,022 more compared to end of the second quarter. The company’s employment figure has been drawing an upward graph since 2013 when its employment tally hit the 60,000 mark. 

Globally, the automotive industry has seen a reduction in workforce following the automakers’ business transition toward electricity-powered models.

Market data shows that vehicles without combustion engines require some 30 percent less auto parts for production, meaning that the manufacturing process requires less time and human labor. 

Foreign automakers like Renault and Volkswagen have already cut back their workforce by 14,600 and 5,000, respectively.

But under the Hyundai Motor chief’s strong vision for the conglomerate’s transformation into a mobility solution provider, the company has stressed its will to create more jobs involving hydrogen fuel cell cars, the backbone of its future business.

According to Hyundai Motor, since hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles requires more auto parts compared to electric vehicles, some 50,000 new jobs will be created under its plan to manufacture 500,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles annually by 2030. 

“The numbers (on the job creation) announced by the Hyundai Motor Group is not an exaggeration at all, since the automaker is not merely a vehicle manufacturer -- the group is now more of a mobility platform operator, meaning that Chairman Chung has plans to expand the business model and use more workforce to paint that picture,” said professor Kim Pil-soo of automotive engineering from Daelim University College.