Hankook Tire Cuts More Jobs as It Struggles to Recover from Fire

Analysts expect the tire maker’s third-quarter earnings to improve, buoyed by stable logistics and raw materials prices

South Korea’s largest tire maker Hankook Tire & Technology Co. plans to cut more jobs through a voluntary retirement scheme as the company is struggling to recover from its March fire, which completely burned one of its domestic factories.

The company on Tuesday began receiving applications from employees at its Korean factories, industry sources said.

All production line employees at domestic sites, regardless of their years of service, are eligible.

The planned job reduction is the third such scheme following its first voluntary retirement in April and a second one in May in the wake of the March fire.

Hankook Tire has been reducing its workforce after a blaze completely destroyed one of its plants in Daejeon, a city south of Seoul. The fire brought all of Hankook Tire’s production lines there to a full stop, resulting in about 40 billion won ($30 million) in lost production. …

Source: KED Global