ULSAN -- Hyundai Heavy Industries Group's three shipyards have all asked their employees to take leave of absence to cope with a drop in workloads, corporate sources in Ulsan said Sunday.

Management at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. said it reached an agreement with its union to have workers take time off in rotations with the first employees to take their leave starting Oct. 16. This process will be implemented until late June 2018 and involve the temporary shutting down of docks that are not in use.

The decision follows similar actions taken by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. to deal with lack of orders to fulfill. HHI, the largest of the three, saw its orders shrink from 91 ships in August 2016 to 65 last month.
 

South Korean shipyards, like others around the world, have all been hit hard by a drop in demand for new ships in the wake of sluggish global economic growth, and low crude and gas prices in the past few years. Companies have since laid off workers through voluntary retirement programs, forced employees to take unpaid leave and even requested cuts in salaries to stay afloat.

"The taking of leave will be restricted to certain areas of shipbuilding operations where there is a temporary excess of people," a Hyundai Mipo official said. He said that management has been in talks with the union since January to find middle ground to handle the dearth in shipbuilding work. (Yonhap)