POSCO raises hiring plans

POSCO announced Monday that the steelmaker and its subsidiaries will hire an additional 1,000 people during the second half of the year.

The company said that those hired during the second half of the year will be put to work in overseas projects, research and development and in new businesses. 

With the latest change in hiring plans, the steelmaker and its subsidiaries will hire a total of 3,500 people this year, up 44 percent from last year’s 2,428 people.

Of the 3,500, POSCO will hire 850 with the remainder being divided among the steelmaker’s subsidiaries.

Aside from the expanded hiring plan, POSCO’s operating rate for the first half of the year was shown to have increased significantly from a year ago. 

According to a regulatory filing submitted Monday, the company’s operating rate for the first half of the year came in at 100.6 percent.

Of the company’s two steel mills, the facilities in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province recorded the higher operating rate with 103.9 percent.

The company’s other steelworks in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province recorded an operating rate of 96.5 percent for the period. 

For the same period last year POSCO recorded an operating rate of 83.2 percent. By steelworks, Pohang steelworks’ operating rate came in at 91 percent and that of Gwangyang steelworks at 76.3 percent. 

The operating rate is calculated by dividing crude steel output by the company’s production capacity, and figures exceeding 100 percent indicate that facilities are being operated at full capacity.

The company attributed the rise in operating rate to the increase in demand for steel products seen during the first six months of the year.