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[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Homeplus has recently seen a surge in voluntary retirement applications from its employees in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions, leading to suspicions raised by the Homeplus union about a potential regional divestiture.

On the 15th, the Homeplus branch of the Korean Federation of Service Workers' Unions (KFSWU) issued a statement pointing out that employees nearing retirement age in these regions were the first to apply for voluntary retirement, while other staff members, fearing an increase in workload, followed suit in large numbers.

The union further criticized Homeplus for recruiting temporary part-time workers to fill staffing shortages while implementing what it described as "reckless restructuring" despite acknowledging the workforce shortage.

Homeplus stated that the voluntary retirement program was introduced due to declining sales at its stores in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam areas, which led to an imbalance in staffing. The company accepted applications for voluntary retirement from employees with over 10 years of service until the 12th of January.

The union has raised concerns that this voluntary retirement process is more than just a workforce reduction and may be linked to a possible regional sale or even the sale of Homeplus itself, similar to the ongoing divestiture of Homeplus' supermarket division, Homeplus Express, since last year.

As a result, the union has proposed to include "supplementary negotiations in case of a sale" in the collective bargaining agenda for 2025.

MBK Partners, the private equity firm that acquired Homeplus in 2015 for 7.2 trillion won, financed the deal by contributing 2.2 trillion won from a blind fund and borrowing 5 trillion won under Homeplus' name. Since then, MBK has sold over 20 Homeplus stores and used the proceeds to reduce the company's debt by nearly 4 trillion won.

Recently, Homeplus also decided to sell and lease back the Shinnae store in the Jungnang-gu area of Seoul as part of its asset liquefaction strategy. Homeplus explained in a letter to the union that the Shinnae store, being an outdated building, would be redeveloped and transformed into a futuristic store based on big data with products that customers prefer most.

 

 

 

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