Doosan Enerbility employees install rotor blades into a casing during final assembly of a gas turbine. [Doosan Enerbility]
Doosan Enerbility employees install rotor blades into a casing during final assembly of a gas turbine. [Doosan Enerbility]

Doosan Enerbility hired more new employees last year than in any other year this decade, as nuclear power plants and gas turbines emerged as key energy sources for AI-driven industries such as data centers. With the company's growth prospects rising, its voluntary turnover rate has also stayed in the low single digits.

According to Doosan Enerbility's sustainability report released Wednesday, the company hired 313 new employees last year, a 62.6% increase from 193 the year before and the highest annual intake of the 2020s. The company had previously struggled to recruit talent in the wake of the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy. As the importance of nuclear power has come back into focus, however, Doosan Enerbility has rebounded and expanded its annual hiring every year since.

The voluntary turnover rate stood at 1.2% last year. While that was a slight increase from 0.8% the year before, it remains low — down from 1.6% in 2023.

The combination of rising new hires and low turnover reflects the strong performance of Doosan Enerbility's core businesses. As electricity grows ever more critical in the AI era, interest in the company's nuclear and gas turbine offerings has grown sharply. Nuclear power in particular has drawn attention as a leading energy source for the AI age, thanks to its ability to generate electricity more reliably than renewable energy.

Doosan's gas turbines have been landing orders both at home and abroad. As a shortage of gas turbines emerged amid surging power demand from AI data centers, global customers began turning to Doosan. The company exported gas turbines to the United States for the first time last year, and this year it signed contracts to supply a total of seven gas turbines to major global technology companies.

The string of wins across gas turbines and other major power generation projects pushed Doosan Enerbility's order backlog to 24.13 trillion won ($15.8 billion) as of the end of March, a 45.9% increase from the same period a year earlier. To work through the growing pipeline of projects on schedule, the company has little choice but to keep expanding its workforce.

To sustain its momentum, Doosan Enerbility is expected to accelerate hiring and invest in future growth businesses. By far its most prominent new venture is the small modular reactor, or SMR. Smaller and lower in capacity than conventional nuclear plants, SMRs offer enhanced safety and are well suited for deployment close to where power is needed.

Major countries are already moving aggressively on SMR development. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved construction of a commercial advanced nuclear plant by SMR developer TerraPower in March, and South Korea last month selected Gijang-gun in Busan as the site for the country's first SMR. According to the World Nuclear Association, more than 70 SMR projects are currently under way worldwide.

Doosan Enerbility recognized the growth potential of SMRs early and has been investing heavily in the sector. The company has formed partnerships with TerraPower as well as fellow SMR developers NuScale Power and X-energy. It also plans to build a dedicated SMR manufacturing facility in preparation for future orders.


yeongdai@heraldcorp.com