- South Korean telecom giant SK Telecom is implementing a voluntary retirement program for employees in its newly formed AI unit – the AI CIC (Company-in-Company), just weeks after its launch in late September 2025.
- The company insists this program is “not a layoff or a staff reduction,” but a support measure for those whose roles, organization, or work locations may change as scattered AI departments are consolidated.
- About 1,000 employees currently working at the AI CIC, including both senior and junior staff, have received the notice. Those who choose to stay may be transferred to regional branches.
- An SK Telecom spokesperson said: “The integration of various AI departments will lead to the streamlining of overlapping functions, a restructuring of tasks, or changes in work locations.”
- The severance package will depend on seniority and position, but the company has not set a target for the number of employees participating in the retirement program.
- The AI CIC will be responsible for developing the personal AI assistant “A.” (pronounced “A-dot”), along with AI data centers, B2B AI services, and global AI partnerships.
- SK Telecom’s goal is to achieve 5 trillion won (≈ $3.5 billion USD) in revenue from AI by 2030, with a focus on B2C-B2B AI services and AI computing infrastructure.
- The company recently launched an Nvidia Blackwell “GPU-as-a-Service” offering and is collaborating with OpenAI to develop an AI data center in South Korea as part of the “Stargate Korea” project.
- This restructuring move reflects SK Telecom’s strategy to increase efficiency, reduce personnel duplication, and focus resources on core AI, amid fierce competition in the South Korean telecom industry’s digital transformation.
📌 Summary: SK Telecom’s offer of voluntary retirement immediately after establishing the AI CIC unit shows the pressure for rapid restructuring while unifying its AI strategy. Although the company denies staff cuts, consolidating a thousand employees into a single AI entity reveals a “quiet major restructuring” aimed at achieving its $3.5 billion AI revenue goal by 2030.
