Management-level positions first to go when companies downsize
Though a promotion is normally something to be celebrated, many workers fear the news that they have been selected for a higher position. The reason: a promotion might put their job in jeopardy. Workers at the managerial level in many industries face a much lower level of job security than their counterparts in more labor-intensive positions. Forty-three-year-old Jeong Gil-hwan had heard about the fragility of job security for those in their 40s and 50s. When he was promoted to manager after 17 years at KEC, a semiconductor-related manufacturer, he opted for early retirement instead. He did not want to quit, but felt it was the better option. Workers at KEC, a company with about 1,200 employees, do not want to become managers. On May 25 this year, 27 managers in their 40s were given the pink slip. This was not the first time that managers were laid off en masse at KEC, either. In September 2003, some 60 managers quit in the name of voluntary retirement. The mood prompted only 30 out of 169 manager candidates to interview for the last set of promotions, an avoidance that would seem odd at many other companies. "Who wants to become a manager when they will become the No. 1 target for dismissal," Jeong said. About his promotion, he said he "felt a sense of betrayal from the management."Lee Dae-ho - not his real name - said he had worked at KEC for 20 years before being laid off. "Before receiving my layoff notification, I sat my desk for six months without being given work. Finally, I was sacked." KEC claimed it had been forced to lay off workers due to more than 40 billion won of losses over the past two years, after being hit by a rise in raw materials prices and logistics costs. However, a Seoul labor arbitration commission ruled on September 22 in favor of Jeong and other workers, saying the company does not require workforce restructuring, as it has hired new workers over the past two years and invested 80 billion won (US$82 million) this year. Despite the commission’s decision, the 27 workers have failed to return to work because the company appealed the ruling to a central labor commission. "Sometime, I want to give up. But if we give up, the company will continue to sack middle-aged workers," Jeong said. These days, three or four times a week he goes to Gumi, where KEC has a plant, in order to stage a protest to get his old job back.
