Chairman Lee Jay-hyun of CJ Group. (Photos: CJ Group)

(from left) CEO Choi Eun-seok of CJ Cheiljedang, CEO Kang Shin-ho of CJ Logistics, CEO Kang Ho-sung of CJ ENM.

(from left) CEO Huh Min-hoe of CJ CGV, CJ Foodville CEO Kim Chan-ho, CJ LiveCity CEO Shin Hyung-gwan.

(from left) CJ Feed & Care CEO Kim Sun-kang, and Lee Kyung-hoo, assistant senior executive vice president of CJ ENM.

CJ Group has conducted a massive reshuffle in which CEOs of its major subsidiaries have been replaced.

The personnel change is designed to help subsidiaries of the group cope with the post-COVID-19 pandemic era with a focus on new executives. The average age of newly inaugurated executives has been lowered to 45, and 21 percent of the new executives have been replaced with women.

CJ Group on Dec. 10 revealed its reshuffle of executives for 2021 in which CEOs of major subsidiaries, including CJ Cheiljedang, CJ Logistics, and CJ ENM, had been replaced and 78 executives got promoted.

CJ Corp. Choi Eun-seok, in charge of overall management strategy, was appointed to be the new CEO of CJ Cheiljedang.

CJ Cheiljedang CEO Kang Shin-ho was named the new CJ Logistics CEO. CJ Corp. Kang Ho-sung, in charge of overall management, support was tapped as new CJ ENM.

Also included in the roster of newly inaugurated CEOs are CJ CGV CEO Huh Min-hoe, CJ China Headquarters CEO Yoon Do-sun, CJ Foodville CEO Kim Chan-ho, CJ LiveCity CEO Shin Hyung-kwan, CJ Feed & Care CEO Kim Sun-kang.

Lim Kyung-mook, head of CJ Corp.’s strategy and planning team, was tapped as the replacement in charge of overall management strategy at CJ Corp.

CJ Group said the group appointed CEOs capable of coping with rapid business environment changes and making preparations for the future. The latest reshuffle involved then promotion of capable and younger executives.

CJ ENM O Shopping CEO Huh Min-ho was promoted to overall senior executive vice president while CJ Foodville CEO Kim Chan-ho was one of the 13 executives who were promoted to assistant senior executive vice president. Twenty-six others were promoted to vice president.

The latest reshuffle redoubled the number of promotions to vice president assistant to 38. Among the promotions are eight female vice president assistants, accounting for 21 percent of the total, who included five, born in the 80s – the millennial generation.

The average age of the newly inaugurated vice president assistants has been lowered to 45, two years younger in the recent two-year period.

It may be construed as the group’s signaling a sign of accelerating a generation change of personnel management, designed to appoint capable and younger, talented manpower through competence competition, departing from the conventional paradigm of seniority.

 
A CJ official said 2020 will be remembered as a year in which the group focused on qualitative growth, and making preparations for the future through innovative growth and securing unmatched capabilities amid uncertain outside business management conditions.

New CEOs also plan to focus on global survival by aggressively coping with the post-COVID-19 pandemic and new normal era next year, the official added.

Eyes were on whether General Manager Lee Sun-ho of CJ Cheiljedang, the eldest son of CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun, would come back to the forefront of management, but his return may be put on hold.

The junior Lee was not put on the slate of the newly inaugurated promotions, according to the CJ official.

CJ ENM Vice President Lee Kyung-hoo, the eldest daughter of CJ Group Chairman Lee, was promoted to assistant senior executive vice president in the latest reshuffle.

Her promotion came three years after she was promoted to vice president in November 2017. Her husband and CJ Vice President Chung Jong-hwan was promoted to assistant senior executive vice president last year.