Kakao employees, uneasy after emergency summons, are now breathing a sigh of relief

사진 확대 [Yonhap News Agency]

Tensions that had risen after Kakao Corp.’s surprise town hall meeting are easing quickly. As the company decided to split into KakaoAI and KakaoX, employees appear to be calming down after confirmation that employment terms and working conditions will be maintained.

According to the IT industry on the 21st, Kakao Corp. held an Open Talk town hall at 10 a.m. and announced a restructuring into the new company KakaoAI, centered on its core businesses KakaoTalk and Kanana, and the surviving company Kakao, which will handle affiliate management and investment.

Kakao Corp. had notified employees of the Open Talk schedule at 6 p.m. the previous day. The company has held Open Talk sessions whenever it needed to share major management issues or announcements, but informing staff only one day in advance was unusual. Because it did not disclose the topic, speculation spread widely, ranging from a holding-company conversion and a spin-off of its AI division to the sale of affiliates and even a merger with Naver.

사진 확대 Kakao founder Kim Beom-soo, left, and CEO Shina Chung. [Kakao Corp.]

Kakao Corp.’s labor union also moved to respond. The union said, “We requested an official confirmation regarding the corporate split, but did not receive a reply, so we are preparing response plans for each scenario,” leaving open the possibility of an employee Open Talk and even collective action near Pangyo Station.

But once the details were revealed, the mood shifted back toward stability. Kakao Corp. promised to guarantee employment succession, working conditions, welfare benefits, and business continuity after the split. In particular, most of the core business and existing staff are expected to move to KakaoAI, while the management team will remain largely similar, suggesting that the practical impact on employees will be limited.

Several Kakao Corp. employees said, “It feels like the company has just changed its name to KakaoAI and KakaoX, and since KakaoTalk and AI are being spun off together, the atmosphere is not bad for now.” They added, “Because our key responsibilities and work methods are not changing, the impact appears to be minimal.”

This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.