Samsung carrying out group-wide restructuring: official

South Korea's top family-controlled business giant, Samsung Group, is reorganizing staff at its affiliates, the chief spokesman said Wednesday.

"As far as I know, each affiliate is conducting (reshuffles of their workforces)," Lee Jun, Samsung Group's top communications official, told reporters. He said the decisions would be based on the judgments of each company and not on orders from the headquarters.

Lee also implied that the group may reduce new hirings this year, saying recruitment would depend on company earnings. "This year's business environment is expected to be as challenging as last year's," Lee said.

With the group's mainstay Samsung Electronics Co. suffering ailing performances over the past quarters, the group has tightened its belt.

Samsung Electronics said last week it has decided to freeze pay for its employees for 2015, the first such move since 2009.

Earlier this year, industry sources said Samsung C&T Corp., the construction and trade arm of the group, was mulling a voluntary retirement program in order to cut costs.

Samsung Group said in January it was freezing the salaries of around 2,000 executive-level staff members, including those from Samsung Electronics, throughout 2015. (Yonhap)