KT has begun a personnel restructuring affecting 5,700 employees, which is about one-third of its total workforce. Since February this year, the company has been hiring approximately 1,000 ICT personnel as part of its efforts to transform into a company emphasizing AI as a new business focus.
According to industry sources on the 18th, KT is undergoing a major organizational restructuring to transition into an AI+ICT company. CEO Kim Young-seop has been actively promoting this transformation since his appointment in March, emphasizing during his first shareholders’ meeting that KT aims to evolve rapidly by integrating IT and AI into its telecommunications foundation.
Despite assurance during previous meetings that there would be no large-scale restructuring, a significant reshuffling is set to take place. On October 15, KT’s board decided to establish two network-specialized subsidiaries, KT OSP and KT P&M, dedicated to infrastructure management, transferring relevant employees from headquarters to these subsidiaries. The union has opposed these changes, leading to a large-scale protest on October 16 for the first time in ten years. The next day, an agreement on workforce redeployment and voluntary retirement was reached under which employees with ten or more years of service, who transfer to the subsidiaries, would receive 70% of their basic wages from KT and a lump sum for the remaining 30% of the salary for the period until retirement.
KT plans to move approximately 3,800 employees to subsidiaries and offer voluntary retirement to those unwilling to transfer, with a total workforce restructuring involving 5,700 employees. In parallel, KT is hiring 1,000 AI and ICT specialists across all levels, from staff to executives, aiming for immediate involvement in digital transformation projects.
To enhance AI literacy among its employees, KT is implementing training programs in AI modeling, data science, digital literacy, and cloud infrastructure over the next six months. Furthermore, KT is partnering with the government to run the KT AIVle School program to train practical digital talent, with each cohort consisting of around 600 trainees receiving six months of free intensive training. Graduates have the opportunity to seek employment within KT and its group companies, with success rates of 15% and 20%, respectively.
Additionally, KT held an AICT seminar for recipients of the “KT Digital Talent Scholarship” to foster digital talents with AI transition capabilities. KT aims to focus its resources on hiring IT and AI personnel, shifting towards becoming an AICT company, and thus contributing to industrial and national advancement.