Diageo Korea offers early retirement

Diageo Korea is offering voluntary early retirement to eligible employees as it works to build a ‘relevant and purpose-led’ business.

The subsidiary stressed that early retirement would be entirely voluntary, designed to offer early retirement benefits to employees who are eligible to retire but haven’t yet reached the Korean retirement age of 62.

In October 2023, Diageo completed the sale of its Windsor Global whisky subsidiary to South Korean investment firm PT W Co.

The news follows Diageo’s half-year 2024 financial results in January, which saw organic net sales dip by 0.6% as Latin America and the Caribbean struggled.

Latin America and the Caribbean delivered a 23% drop in sales during the six months. Spirits sales in the region fell by 25%, while the ready-to-drink segment dropped by 13%. Beer, meanwhile, grew by 45%.

Diageo said it was more focused than ever on its international spirits and beer business in Korea, which has operated separately from Windsor since 2022, when a sale was first floated.

Furthermore, Diageo, which owns Johnnie Walker, said it was ‘fully committed’ to the Korean market, which it described as ‘strategically important’ for the firm.

It added the business was ‘performing strongly’, and the changes aimed to improve services for customers and consumers.