Having previously said it would not let employees go in order to try and stem the migration of talent to competitors in China, a spokesperson for LG Display has confirmed to Reuters that the company plans to cut jobs through a voluntary retirement scheme, as more of its processes become automated and it shifts its focus from LCD to OLED, which requires a lesser number of employees.
Two months ago, the company announced that it would be slashing its investment plans by $2.7 billion after a weak second quarter, attributed to falling LCD panel prices. At the time, CFO and executive VP Sang-Don Kim said that the company would be moving to prioritise OLED production sooner than anticipated.
LGD says that it expects applications for voluntary retirement to start coming in this month from a number of employees said to represent around 65% of the entire workforce, though the number of job cuts is yet to be decided.
Analyst Comment
Additionally, LGD is conducting investigations after critical data regarding its OLED technology was leaked to China, according to The Korea Herald. A search for recording devices in meeting rooms proved to be fruitless but the company nevertheless suspects espionage, following the indictment of several researchers for attempting to sell sensitive information regarding Samsung’s OLED tech to Chinese competitors earlier this year. (AF)
