The POSCO Green Building, which was completed in 1 year and 2 months after starting construction last September, consists of an office building (5 floors, B1~4F, total square of 5571㎡), joint housing building of 5 units (3 floors), 4 modular home units and a PR exhibition hall.

 The POSCO Green Building was carried out as part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport R&D project, ‘Research on spreading green technology to market demand-based new buildings’ which aims to present a new approach to domestic green building construction, and considered environment-friendly and low energy in the processes from design and construction to operation and disposal.

 More than 100 green technologies including solar power, geothermal air-conditioning and heating, vacuum outsulation, and ICT (Information Communication Technology) are applied to the building, optimizing energy performance and saving energy usage from 30 to 100% compared to existing buildings. Further, it is an environment-friendly building where approximately 35% of the energy required by the building is self-generated utilizing new renewable energy.

 Energy reduction materials developed by POSCO were also greatly used. In the front of the building, a steel curtain wall, which boasts the best domestic insulation performance, was installed, generating insulation effects of more than double existing aluminum curtain walls, while vacuum outsulation was applied to the exterior walls to increase heat retention ability.

 In addition, self-cleaning steel plates were applied to the building’s exterior walls, allowing for the overall exterior to maintain a clean appearance while pollutants can be removed by rainwater. This steel plate has a 30% longer lifecycle than regular steel plates. High corrosion-resistant alloy gilt steel plates were used in the facilities to save rainwater, and high manganese steel that reduces vibration was experimentally applied for the first time to the sound-blocking floor to solve noise between floors.

 The Green Building also considers the environment in disposal on top of construction. Slag from production of melted iron was incorporated in place of cement, an important construction material, to reduce energy necessary to produce the cement. Reuse steel structure methods were applied to the steel frame for the building. Dampers were installed to absorb vibration to prevent shifts from external shocks such as earthquakes, and supplementary materials were combined using bolts so they can be reused once the building’s lifecycle ends.

 Further, a Building Energy Management System (BEMS), which controls air-conditioning & heating and OLED lighting automatically by analyzing the production-delivery-consumption process of energy and sensing temperature differences caused by sunlight, is applied to improve energy efficiency and allow intelligent energy management.

 POSCO plans to utilize the Green Building as a model to spread energy-reduction type homes.

 The POSCOMAGIC R&D Center, which focuses on non-ferrous mineral research, will be also established in the Green Building, consistently carrying out industry-academia research linked with POSCO’s non-ferrous business and developing competitive new environment-friendly materials

 A showroom will also be made available in the PR exhibition hall, marketing environment-friendly steel construction materials applied to the Green Building, while the design-construction-energy management system operation experience of the Green Building will be proactively utilized for the green construction industry both domestically and internationally, contributing to the creation of new demand in environment-friendly steel construction materials. In addition, the Green Building will be open to the public and give an opportunity to meet new materials and steel construction materials applied in the building.

POSCO, on August 31st at the ‘Istanbul-Gyeongju World Culture Expo, held in Istanbul, Turkey, opened their POSCO booth to proactively promote the company to expo attendees. As of September 9th, 24,000 attendees visited the POSCO booth and experienced the status of Korea’s representative steel company.

On August 31st, ten hours prior to the opening of the expo, the POSCO booth, which was located at the Beyazit Meydani (square), was opened with the attendance of 30 personnel including Executive Director Lee Bokseong and POSCO ASSAN TST President Kwon Jongwon, as well as POSCO officers.

Executive Director Lee Bokseong, in his congratulatory speech, said, “We expect that this event will promote our local subsidiaries and companies including POSCO ASSAN TST•POSCO TNPC, which are the bases to enter the Europe steel market.”

The POSCO booth titled ‘POSCO Steel Gallery’ is designed as a gallery type of exhibition. The POSCO booth is the only corporate booth located at Beyazit Meydani and will be open until September 22nd, for 23 days.

The booth is divided into the ‘Gallery Zone’ and ‘Culture Zone,’ where the ‘Gallery Zone’ features the steel civilization which started in ancient Turkey as well as the introduction of 《Jikji Simche Yojeol (Anthology of Great Buddhist Priests’ Zen Teachings)》 which is the world’s first book printed from metal blocks, up to POSCO’s steel products and the global chain including affiliates and local subsidiaries.

Further, to promote the local subsidiary in Turkey, social contribution activities of each production base and POSCO ASSAN TST are introduced, as well as an exhibition of an automobile steel plate sample featuring the technology and product of POSCO TNPC.

In the ‘Culture Zone,’ videos of various forms of steel in our everyday lives are played on 4 touch screens, and the beautiful sound made by steel instruments show the happiness of mankind through steel.

Various promotional activities are also displayed outside of the POSCO booth, and the building’s exterior introduces the many businesses that the POSCO Family is globally involved in through a graphic panel, and the large ride facilities that connect to the exterior of the booth and the rooftop terrace with artificial grass on the second floor provide a resting area for attendees.

Once the POSCO booth closes, POSCO plans to move the exhibition articles to POSCO ASSAN TST and POSCO TNPC to build a PR center at each subsidiary.

Since 2007, POSCO has been contributing to societies in need through various social activities through 100 selected university students. Every year, the “Beyond”, POSCO’s volunteer group of undergraduate students, is working diligently to provide warm and comfortable homes for the less fortunate across Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and other places.

Like any other hardworking year, the Beyonders went to a small town called ‘Bawana’, located in the northwest of India’s capital Delhi. From February 2nd, the Beyonders volunteered to build lovely houses for people living in the area. Let’s introduce you to their 12 days of not only giving, but also learning.

POSCO Beyond 2nd visit to Bawana

Bawana was the place where the 1st Beyonders visited to build their very first housing project in 2008. During their stay, around 100 university students worked hard to present 10 new homes for the Bawana people. For this year, 110 students from 52 universities gathered, led by ten Beyond-alumni students from last year’s project as leaders. Before all the hammerings and brick layings began, the Beyonders initiated their visit to India by a series of orientations to learn about India through “India’s Habitat” activities. It really helped them to understand the entire project.

Two weeks journey in India

From the moment of arrival, the Beyonders were shocked by the awful smell coming from the rubbish all over town. Some kids were even walking on dirty and muddy grounds with their bare feet. The living conditions of Bawana were poorer than anyone expected as most of the people were living in ghetto-like places with tents covering the walls and ceilings. It was obvious that the place was vulnerable to the wind and rain.

The Beyond’s mission was to demolish ten old houses and build new and strong alternatives. The Beyonders were in groups of 10, teams to engage every stage of building the houses from flattening the ground to painting the walls.

After hours of diggings and knocking down walls, local kids who were at first hesitative came and showed friendliness. With several English phrases and desperate body language exercised by the Beyonders, the kids seemed to be quite entertained and amazed as we could see from their laughs and smiles. After witnessing the children smiling so brightly and following the volunteers, we realized why movements like “Beyond” were needed.

Everyone was pretty much exhausted when the volunteer were halfway through their tight scheduled activity, a reliable reinforcement arrived – Yong Won Yoon, Chairman, Managing Director of POSCO-India, and POSCO’s local employees. They expressed their appreciations for the Beyonders coming to India for the project. Everyone was now motivated with the same cause and went full speed ahead for the construction.

On February 10th, the Beyonders took a brief rest as it was the Lunar New Year. They visited The Taj-Mahal and wished a happy New Year for their families back in Korea.

Finally, the volunteer works for building the new homes were complete. A ceremony was held to celebrate those who would be living in the houses. Not only the Beyonders, but also local staff, families with new homes and the Bawana people attended the event at the town hall with a great festive atmosphere. While the ceremony was enjoyed by everyone, there was an infectious grin on the Beyonders’ faces as they left all the tiresome memories from hard works.

Interviews with volunteers

Kim Jin-ho, PR Group of Daewoo International

Q) What motivated you to join the POSCO Beyond?

Kim: About three or four weeks before I came here, the team leader of POSCO’s social contribution team recommended this program. I thought it would be a great chance as it was quite rare to work with POSCO and the project itself seemed to be a good opportunity to gain fantastic experiences related to my work in the PR department. Also, we could show to the media that POSCO’s affiliates are working horizontally and generating positive synergy effects volunteer activities.

Q) How do you feel after witnessing “Beyond”?

Kim: It’s not an everyday opportunity to work with university students and I feel great as if I’m receiving some positive energy from them. It feels wonderful being away from desk and doing “Beyond” activities so now I can go back to Korea filled with good spirit.

Q) Do you have anything to say to 100 Beyonders?

Kim: I have had experience working with human resources teams before. What I felt back then, was that there were so many talented youngsters. That’s probably why corporations prefer the talents with special experiences. As an older brother or sister, what I want to tell you guys is, work hard and study hard. But don’t forget to forge yourself with this kind of special activities. Go Beyond~!

Abitra, POSCO-India’s local employee

Q) How well is POSCO known in India?

Abitra: Although it is not as high as in Korea, after 7 years of POSCO’s operation in India, the corporation’s recognition has become much higher in comparison to two years ago.

Q) What is it like working with Koreans?

Abitra: Indians and Koreans have different styles. As we are from different countries, our language habits vary quite dramatically. However, as we now understand each other, it is not regarded as a major barrier.

Q) You volunteered to work here today. How do you feel?

Abitra: It feels great. By participating in this volunteer work, I’ve realized how important it is for corporations to oblige social responsibility. I enjoyed working here and meeting new people as well. Also, I truly appreciate the Korean university students who came all the way to India. I hope this will play a positive role for their future.

Rajina, a resident of Bawana

Q) What was it like before you had a new house?

Rajina: We had to move here because the place we were living was to be redeveloped. It’s been about 7 or 8 years since we settled here. We had to live in a house made of hays.

Q) What is your impression and image of the Beyonders?

Rajina: It’s been so much more supportive than the helps from the locals or other people. I’m really thankful because they treated us well and did all the dirty works without hesitations.

Q) Anything you want to say to the Beyonders?

Rejina: I’m overwhelmed with gratitude I am left speechless. I’m really touched by the Beyonders’ hard works here.

A letter from Nadeem’s family, ‘Building the House of Love’ beneficiary

Here we’ve gathered information from interviews of actual employees who are working abroad. Here’s the insight to hands-on experience in working for POSCO.

Here are the profiles of our employees and branches who thankfully participated in quick Q&A session. Mr. Seung Dae Park and Mr. Ill Chul Shin are both Sr. Managers from PT Krakatau POSCO, Indonesia. Mr. Seung Dae Park is in charge of Human Resources and Mr. Ill Chul Shin is a Training and Assessment head manager. Their main duties include training new employees, offering seminars to help employees. The next interviewed employee was Mr. Shanti Swaroop Pradhan, who is an executive officer in the corporate relation department at POSCO India. His main tasks are to handle the liaison with Govt offices and keep good PR relationships with the media. Last but not the least, we asked our employee located at POSCO Australia (POSA), Mr. Yong Park, who is a sales and marketing manager.

POSCO Abroad in a Nutshell

POSCO, as you know, is a large corporate firm. That’s indeed a success story, but sometimes it can be hard for individuals to get to know us personally, or ask questions right away. So here we have put together some questions that you might be curious. Oh, and of course, we paid particular attention to the departed employees at foreign locations of POSCO and our local foreign employees.

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Q1. Where can potential employees find information for recruitment?

For all three locations, they answered that Job Portals, Company Websites, News Papers and Man power Consultant Agencies are good methods to look for a job offer from POSCO. Also, you can find detailed information on each branch’s website or the official POSCO website.

Q2. The proportion of employees abroad

Currently PT Krakatau POSCO has about 1400 employees, and they plan to include an addition 2000 from combining with another branch located in Indonesia. POSCO India’s local employee’s proportion is about 40%, and they hired about 1200 employees last year, both experienced and inexperienced workers in our field. However, the process of hiring, and the number of employees listed may differ by locations. We encourage our future candidate employees to check carefully for more information from the exact branch they are wishing to be part of.

Q3. Satisfaction level of employees at abroad locations

“All employees are very much satisfied with their current job and working environment. Their satisfaction level shall further increase manifold as soon as we start Steel Manufacturing activity.” – Shanti Swaroop Pradhan, POSCO India

“We practice satisfaction surveys to all employees. The results of the surveys help us be informed about what the problems are and be able to provide effective solutions to meet our employees’ needs. For our particular branch, currently the rate of turn-over rate is below 2%, which proves that we have high satisfactory rate from the current employees.” – Seung Dae Park, POSCO Indonesia

“In my personal opinion satisfaction of employees and requirements of the company go hand-in-hand. Companies would welcome and try to retain competent, proactive and trustworthy employees who would work for the best interest of the company earnestly. All good employees, including local employees working at overseas branch should put efforts to fit the description above. We expect employees to find opportunities to develop their skills, have vision to grow their capabilities. With good results, the company will entrust them with greater responsibilities if they prove themselves loyal and capable. I believe POSCO Australia has endeavored to provide an environment where local employees are given such opportunities and long-term vision. In return, local employees at POSCO Australia exercise the best of their ability and earnestness to their work as they are proud of their job.” – Yong Park, POSCO Australia

Q4. How does daily schedule go about? What does POSCO provide?

You might not be sure about what it’s like, at working for one of POSCO branches. Especially, working abroad gives an even more vagueness to your guesses and preparations. Let’s look at how a usual day starts and goes in Indonesian branch, where dormitories are included, and how workloads are divided and assigned at POSCO India.

“At 5:30am I eat breakfast, and by 6:30am I get to work on the POSCO shuttle. I’d get to work around 7am, where I get ready for today’s work and handle necessary preparations for the day. The official work-time starts at 8am and ends at 5pm. Also, there is a morning shift on every other Saturdays. We do “Visual Training” every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and practice 1:1 communication within the Training Team department as well.” – Ill Chul Shin, POSCO Indonesia

“During my working time in the office, I concentrate on my assignments given by my seniors and I feel satisfied when I complete my work properly. Schedules are decided by the as per interactions with my concerned Reporting Officer.” – Shanti Swaroop Pradhan, POSCO India

“For 2 years now we’ve been working on labor-welfare-facilities service for our personnel with local employees. We create various programs and regulations to help the laborers.” – Seung Dae Park, POSCO Indonesia

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To Be Part of POSCO

Maybe now you have some general idea of how the employees at foreign locations operate. But let’s get into “how” you can join them overseas, or what kind of “YOU”s POSCO overseas branches want. It’s not just the office work you must learn, but the culture, the people, and your new surroundings. Let’s hear more from our three interviewers.

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Q1. What qualities of yours may contribute to be hired by POSCO?

“I think my confidence, truthfulness and commitment are the qualities to be hired by POSCO.” – Shanti Swaroop Pradhan, POSCO India

“I think my background in industrial engineering helped. Also, I entered POSCO right away after graduating university, as an intern. I want to be careful about saying that I am successful yet, but today I consider that I am close to the word. I am very satisfied with my work here.” – Ill Chul Shin, POSCO Indonesia

As you can tell, personality is the key, but like Ill Chul Shin from Indonesia, your background of studies can help according to what branch or department you’d be hired for. Also, beginning as an intern is a good idea as well.

Q2. The main and ideal employee we look for

It’s always easy to introduce about yourself and appeal your best qualities. However, aren’t you curious about exactly what “kind” of person or a coworker that the actual employees working at overseas? Let’s take a look and see if you can, or already possess some of the following qualities.

“We’ve gathered opinions from all our employees, and the general character we want is a person who can integrate well into a group and someone who’s hardworking indeed.” – Yong Park, POSCO Australia

“We look for an employee having MY FEELINGS towards the Company, having personal relationship with the firm, where you can develop an intimate relationship with POSCO. Also, I think a co-worker should be very much understanding and he/she should accept the foreign employees and their culture.” – Shanti Swaroop Pradhan, POSCO India

“The best character that’s fit for working overseas is out-going, optimistic and thoughtful. This is an extremely important factor you must consider when working at a foreign environment. Furthermore, generally, our branch has POSCO’s vision, mission and value as our main measurement of deciding a good employee. Also, a candidate’s commitment to POSCO and his/her creativity will be evaluated.” – Seung Dae Park, POSCO Indonesia

Q3. What difficulties and advantages working for a foreign branch/corporation should you be prepared?

Optimistic, caring, thoughtful, out-going, hard-working, friendly, are some of the characteristics the overseas branch employees claimed to be the necessary qualities of an employee they’d like to work with, and look for. If you think about it, these qualities are very personal, and have little to do with one’s background of studies or work experience. Why is that?

“Working overseas, you’ll experience both satisfactions of your hard work and agony. Here, caring for one another and understanding of each other is the most important job. One of the hardest things would be not being able to be with your loved ones, like family and friends. However, what you can expect is an astounding enhancement of your working abilities and personal improvements.” – Ill Chul Shin, POSCO Indonesia

Like the interview above, “working at POSCO abroad” is something that requires not only professional skills, but YOUR CHARACTER most of all, since you’re going to be new to not only work tasks, but the environment. There are gains and losses, but in the end, we’re sure that you’ll feel the most satisfactory of your work and become a better-rounded individual.

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On Field with POSCO

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Q1. When did you feel the most proud of your work at a foreign base?

“As I have been working with a Korean company, I have not faced much difficulties and working with POSCO is itself an advantage. I felt really proud of myself when I assessed myself after some time that I have worked with almost all the senior officials in my organization successfully and learn something from them here at POSCO.” – Shanti Swaroop Pradhan, POSCO India

“I feel the most proud and happy when local employees tell me that they’ve learned much about Korea and POSCO, maybe more so since I’m work in the Training Department for all employees. It really puts a smile on me when I hear stories of how both POSCO and Korea gave good impressions to our foreign employees.” – Ill Chul Shin, POSCO Indonesia

POSCO hopes that our employees can develop a personal relationship with us and that can be helped by feeling proud of one’s work. We try our best to adjust to our employees’ needs and wish that POSCO will always be a benefit to them both business-wise and personally.

Q2. Did you have any stereotype about working at a foreign branch? What was your first outlook?

Often times, it’s hard to ignore your basic instincts, or unconscious stereotyping of your new job, especially if it’s at a foreign place. POSCO understands that very well. However, you’ll be surprised at how much you’ll get to learn and experience the new culture with a positive outlook with POSCO beside you.

Q3. If you can describe POSCO with one word, what would it be?

We’ve asked our participants of this interview to define POSCO, by one word or a phrase, based on their personal experience with us. “VALUE,” replied Shanti Swaroop Pradhan from India. Ill Chul Shin from Indonesia wrote, “POSCO is a good-spirited firm. It’s a company that has a power to change the world, but most of all, looks after the environment we live in.” We are happy that we could be such a firm the two individuals described to them, personally. POSCO wishes that we indeed become an asset and leave perhaps a warm impression to all our valuable and precious employees.

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We hope that now you have a better idea on how it’s like to work at overseas POSCO branches. One’s grades, past awards, experiences, and area of studies matter for all companies. However, POSCO looks more than that; we evaluate your personal characters too. Our doors are open wide for all candidates out there, who are willing to become our “family.” POSCO tries our best to comfort our employees and train them with necessary skills, work closely with every individual, and supporting in areas needed. To achieve this, we acknowledge communication between POSCO and employees as crucial factor. As Ill Chul Shin from Indonesia says, “I hope that every single POSCO employee can exuberantly participate in information-sharing through an effective communication channel with POSCO and amongst employees.”