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🇰🇷 South Korea /Economy & Trade

South Korea's four biggest banks expected to hire about 600 entry-level workers in second half, nearly 100 fewer than last year

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • South Korea's four major commercial banks are expected to recruit between the high 400s and low 500s in the second half of the year, down by about 100 from last year.
  • The banks hired 485 entry-level employees in the first half, compared with 595 a year earlier.
  • Banks cited the shift toward mobile and online banking, while recruitment increasingly targets artificial intelligence, digital finance and other specialist roles.

South Korea's four major commercial banks are expected to hire roughly 600 new employees in the second half of the year, nearly 100 fewer than during the same period last year. The estimate reflects a continued decline in large-scale entry-level recruitment across the banking sector.

KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana and Woori banks recruited a combined 485 entry-level employees in the first half of this year. That was nearly 20 percent below the 595 hired in the first half of last year. In the second half, the four banks are expected to recruit between the high 400s and low 500s.

KB Kookmin is seeking about 180 people, including around 160 new employees and 20 experienced hires. NH Nonghyup Bank began recruiting 120 entry-level employees on the fourth day of the month, although its additional hiring plans for the second half remain undecided. The four banks recruited 595 people in the second half of last year.

As mobile and internet banking expand structurally across the financial industry, demand for face-to-face work such as deposits and withdrawals at bank counters has fallen sharply, reducing new hiring at commercial banks.

· Bank officialThe official explained why banks are reducing overall recruitment.

One bank official linked the decline to the rapid expansion of mobile and internet banking. As demand for in-person deposits and withdrawals falls, banks are not expanding their networks of physical branches, reducing their overall staffing needs. Recruitment is also shifting away from mass hiring toward practical specialists in artificial intelligence, digital technology and data analysis.

KB Kookmin is recruiting for information and communications technology roles, with applicants required to pass document screening, a coding test and interviews. Hana Bank created a permanent experienced-hire track last year for specialists in artificial intelligence, data analysis and new digital technologies. Average pay for employees at the four banks during the first half reached 71.5 million won over six months, 8.5 million won more than at Samsung Electronics.

The employment structure is changing from large-scale recruitment of many people to practical hiring focused on specialist fields.

· Bank officialThe official described the shift toward specialist recruitment in digital banking.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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