South Korean conglomerates appear to be gradually changing their recruitment methods in favor of experienced workers and year-round recruitment of new employees.

A public organization said Wednesday that major domestic companies are planning to fill about 40 percent of their new job openings with experienced workers, as opposed to fresh university graduates, in the second quarter of this year.

According to the Korea Employment Information Service (KEIS), 137 out of the nation's top 500 companies in terms of sales have recruitment plans during the April-June quarter and plan to hire entry-level and experienced workers at a ratio of 62.4 percent to 37.6 percent. The proportion of entry-level workers is relatively high in the fields of sales and marketing (78.2 percent), production and technology (62.9 percent) and management support (52.9 percent), while the ratio of experienced workers is high in information technology (71.4 percent) and research and development (60.2 percent), the agency said.

Local conglomerates are increasingly preferring year-round recruitment to open recruitment and give preference to experienced workers who can be put to work immediately.

Open recruitment is a method in which a company hires a large number of new employees through written exams and interviews and trains them before they start working. Year-round, or occasional, recruitment refers to small-scale hiring of new employees whenever there is demand for manpower.

KEIS said major domestic companies plan to hire 62.7 percent of their entry-level workers through open recruitment and 37.3 percent through year-round recruitment.

In case of experienced workers, 80.3 percent are to be hired through year-round recruitment and 19.7 percent through open recruitment, the agency noted.

About 63 percent of local companies surveyed by KEIS said they have decided to expand the proportion of year-round recruitment to quickly respond to changes in the business environment. (Yonhap)