It was found that 9 out of every 10 companies that have completed establishing a management plan next year or have drafted a management plan have set the management’s stance to maintain the status quo or austerity management. The general forecast was that there would be a period of economic recovery after 2024.
The Korea Employers’ Federation announced on the 18th the results of the ‘Corporate Management Outlook Survey 2023’ conducted on 240 companies with 30 or more employees across the country. As a result, 54.2% of the companies that responded answered that they had drawn up a final version (12.9%) or a draft (41.3%) of next year’s management plan. 45.8% responded that they had not even established a draft.
When asked about the basics of next year’s management plan for companies that have completed or drafted a business plan, 90.8% said they would ‘maintain the status quo’ (68.5%) or ‘limited management’ (22.3%). Only 9.2% of respondents said ‘managing expansion’.
Among the companies that chose to manage savings, 72.4% (multiple responses possible) chose ‘cost reduction across the corporation’ for specific action plans. In addition, the proportion of companies that chose ‘ensuring liquidity’ (31.0%) and ‘rationalizing workforce management’ (31.0%) was also high.
When a survey was carried out on next year’s investment plans for companies that had established or drafted business plans, 66.9% of the responses were ‘at this year’s level’. Only 15.4% of companies said they would increase investment compared to this year. In terms of the recruitment plan, ‘this year’s level (2022)’ was the highest response at 61.5%, followed by ‘recruitment expansion’ at 24.6% and ‘recruitment reduction’ at 13.8%.
74.2% of the companies that responded referred to ‘after 2024’ as to when the Korean economy will return to normal. In addition, 22.9% of respondents said ‘after 2025’, and only 25.8% answered ‘next year’.
The average economic growth rate predicted by companies for the next year was 1.6%, and by sector, 90.8% of respondents said the growth rate would be less than 2.0%. When asked about their current financial situation, 43.0% of the companies that responded answered that it was difficult. In addition, 50.5 percent predicted that the financial situation next year would be difficult, so they are concerned that the corporate financial situation will deteriorate further, said the KEF.
Ha Sang-woo, head of the Economic Research Headquarters of the Korean Federation of Employers, said, “Since the economic situation next year is expected to be more difficult than this year, it is urgent to think of measures to boost the vitality of companies. ” “We need to continuously improve the tax system and the labor market so that there is no competition,” he said.
Reporter Ham Bong-gyun hbkone@etnews.com
