South Korea's LG Display to cut jobs through voluntary retirement

South Korea’s LG Display, an Apple supplier, will cut jobs through voluntary retirement for the first time since its founding, a spokeswoman confirmed on September 29.

LG Display plans to receive applications in October for voluntary redundancy among employees in production that make up about 65 per cent of its workforce, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported earlier on September 29 citing the company, adding the target size of the voluntary redundancy has not been decided.

The spokeswoman said the voluntary retirement offer is driven by automation as well as the company’s portfolio switch from liquid crystal display (LCD) to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens, which require fewer production personnel. The company will secure competitiveness by increasing the portion of R&D workers and engineers, she added.

Prices of LCD screens, the company’s mainstay, have plummeted partly due to Chinese competition, causing LG Display to say in July it would slash $2.7 billion in capital spending planned through 2020 in order to switch its portfolio to OLED screens.

Company officials had previously said that it was not planning layoffs for fear of losing talent to China.