Homeplus closes voluntary retirement applications early after just 8 days as applicants flood in

[Financial News] Homeplus, which is undergoing corporate rehabilitation proceedings, closed applications early after more employees than expected applied for voluntary retirement.
According to industry sources on the 15th, Homeplus ended the application period for voluntary retirement early the day before. It had initially planned to accept applications from the 7th through the 22nd, but closed them just eight days after applications opened because more employees than expected had applied.
The scheduled retirement date for those taking voluntary retirement is the 31st. Unpaid wages, Chuseok bonuses and severance pay are set to be paid in a lump sum on the 14th of next month. Although no separate compensation payment will be made under this voluntary retirement program, the large number of applicants is believed to reflect growing uncertainty about the company’s return to normal operations.
Homeplus is currently working to return to normal operations after the court approved its rehabilitation plan, but it reportedly has not generated as much revenue as expected. It has also reportedly been unable to find a prospective buyer for its hypermarket division.
Earlier, Homeplus CEO Jo Joo-yeon appeared on the 12th at the National Assembly Political Affairs Committee’s parliamentary audit of the Fair Trade Commission and said the company was having difficulty increasing sales.
Jo said, "We were able to resume operations with 200 billion won in emergency operating funds (DIP), and initially planned to increase inventory and sales by normalizing deliveries and credit transactions. But in reality, only advance payments and cash transactions are possible."
Regarding plans to repay creditors, Jo said, "We are proceeding with the sale of 19 company-owned stores among the closed locations. We will secure funds as quickly as possible and do our best to repay our debts." Jo added, "The plan is to receive letters of intent by the end of October," and emphasized, "We will expedite mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to repay our debts as soon as possible."
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