Chairman Lee Jay-hyun of CJ Group.

CJ Group will be out to hire a record number of new employees and make huge investments this year, the group announced recently.

The group will newly employ 14,000 employees in the next three years, including 2,400 college graduates and 1,600 high school graduates, totaling 4,000 this year. The group will follow it up by hiring 4,500 new employees next year and 5,500 in 2017, totaling 14,000 in the next three years based on its policy to go along with government moves to find jobs for youths and invest in the future.

The large-scale employment and investments by the group are possible because of its operation of theaters and restaurants around the country.

According to the Bank of Korea, the service industry employment ratio stood at 17.8 in 2013 against just 8.6 for the manufacturing industry. That means when 1 billion won is invested in the service industry, it created 17.8 jobs, while the manufacturing industry created just 8.6 jobs. Officials of the group said the new jobs will be created as the group continues to be on a growth path in the future.

The group projects that its turnover in the entertainment and cultural operations will be around 15.6 trillion won by 2020. The group’s affiliates such as CJ E&M, CGV and Hello Vision made 3.6 trillion won in their combined turnover last year and they plan to boost it to 15.6 trillion won in the next five years.

In order to achieve the goal, the group plans to invest around 10 trillion won in the sector, figuring the investment is needed to boost its turnover in 2020 to the targeted levels. The group started in the entertainment and cultural areas in 1995 when it invested $300 million in Dreamworks in the U.S., the film and entertainment business set up by Spielberg, Katzenburg and Geffen, big names in their the film and entertainment industry. The company has been steadily growing ever since.

Vice Chairman Lee Chae-wook said the group will be at the forefront of the cultural entertainment industry so that it will be a future growth engine going forward.

In a recent interview with a local daily, CJ Foodville CEO Jung Moon-mok said the company is making all-out efforts to achieve the goals on schedule to make the company one of the world's top 10 restaurant companies by 2020. He said the company will concentrate on China and the United States. It will seek rapid expansion in the two countries with master franchise agreements and partnerships with local companies, he added. The CEO didn't rule out the possibility of mergers and acquisitions for a speedy expansion.

"Our goal is clear and uncompromised," Jung said, referring to the 2020 vision. "We will continue to invest although it's unlikely that we will make profit in the years to come. Korean food is still at an early stage of globalization. It still needs investment."

Under the vision, the CEO said, the company's sales will reach 5 trillion won by 2020 with nearly half of it coming from overseas markets. Its two major brands — Bibigo (Korean restaurant) and Tous les Jours (bakery) — will lead the expansion, he said.

Jung said Korea has grown enough to have an international food and beverage company that can stand shoulder to shoulder with global leaders such as McDonald's and Starbucks.

"The world's dining market is estimated at 4.8 quadrillion won and the size will expand infinitely. But Korean food's presence in the market is still quite small, which means we have lost a lot of business opportunities in this industry. At the same time, this means there are a lot of things we can do to boost Korean food's presence. CJ Foodville wants to contribute to this," the CEO said. 

CJ Foodville is promoting its products in collaboration with other CJ affiliates, especially CJ Cheil Jedang, CJ E&M and CJ CGV.

CJ Cheil Jedang, Korea's leading mass produced food maker, exports popular products in China and the U.S. under the brand Bibigo, a Korean restaurant brand promoted by CJ Foodville. 

As of early September, CJ CGV had 221 theaters containing 1,637 screens in six countries — Korea with 971 screens, China with 381, Vietnam with 166, Indonesia with 207, Myanmar with nine and the U.S. with three. It will make its foray into Malaysia next year.