Hyundai Heavy to carry out voluntary retirement programme

SEOUL: Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., South Korea's largest shipbuilder, said Tuesday it plans to carry out a voluntary retirement program in the latest move to cut costs amid dwindling orders.

The shipbuilder said it has offered to provide up to 20 months' salary to those who apply for the program by April 29. It said employees who have worked for the company for more than 10 years are eligible for the retirement program.

Hyundai Heavy said it remains unclear how many of its 16,000 employees will opt to leave the company, citing the voluntary nature of the program.

The latest job cut comes three months after Hyundai Heavy President and CEO Kang Hwan-goo warned that Hyundai Heavy could face difficulties, as order backlogs are dwindling and building work for offshore plants will "completely run out in a few months."

Hyundai Heavy has not won any offshore plant orders in the past two years.    Hyundai Heavy said it aims to achieve 7.98 trillion won (US$7.5 billion) in sales this year, a 60 percent decline from a decade ago.

South Korean shipbuilders have struggled with an oversupply of vessels and declining orders since the 2008 financial crisis.