Even the 'God's Workplace' Banks... Only Hired Short-Term Contract Workers Due to COVID-19

No Mid-Year Open Recruitment for Six Banks Including Shinhan
Number of Employees Decreased by 575 Compared to Last Year at the End of June
Regular Employees Down by 849, Non-Regular Employees Up by 274

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] Due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), commercial banks that were unable to conduct new recruitments in the first half of this year have seen a decrease in regular employees and an increase only in non-regular employees. Even banks, known as "the divine workplace," are hiring only short-term contract workers, raising concerns that "quality jobs" may disappear.

According to the banking sector on the 25th, six banks including Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Hana, Woori, SC First, and Korea Citibank did not conduct open recruitment in the first half of this year. Only some professional staff or IT-related personnel were hired through occasional recruitment.

Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank, which used to hire hundreds of people every first half of the year, postponed their recruitment schedules to the second half due to the impact of COVID-19. Kookmin and Hana Banks usually conduct large-scale recruitment in the second half, while the two foreign banks replenish personnel through occasional hiring.

According to the semi-annual reports of the six commercial banks, the number of employees as of the end of June was 67,206, a decrease of 575 from June last year (67,781). During this period, the six banks reduced 849 regular employees, while non-regular employees increased by 274.

At Kookmin Bank, the total number of employees decreased by 88 from 17,498 to 17,410 over one year, with regular employees decreasing by 272. On the other hand, non-regular employees increased by 184. During the same period, Hana Bank's total employees decreased by 379 from 13,313 to 12,934. Regular employees who left numbered 506, but 127 new non-regular employees filled the positions.

During the same period, Shinhan Bank saw increases in both regular employees (59) and non-regular employees (138), but the increase in non-regular employees was more than twice as large.

Among the major banks, only Woori Bank increased regular employees by 32, while non-regular employees decreased by 134. Foreign banks saw decreases in both regular and non-regular employees.

Commercial Banks’ Open Recruitment Stopped Due to COVID-19

This is because new recruitments could not be conducted in the first half due to COVID-19. A banking sector official explained, "The number of regular employees decreased due to retirements and voluntary retirements of existing staff, but no new regular employees were hired in the first half. Non-regular employees increased due to rehiring retirees who had been retired for over a year and hiring professionals such as lawyers on contract."

Another official said, "Regular employees decreased due to voluntary retirements at the end of last year, while non-regular employees increased due to rehiring retired branch managers and reinforcing professional staff at headquarters."

In fact, even the increased non-regular employees are mostly existing regular employees or professionals who can move to other places at any time, so it is not significantly related to youth job creation.

Youth are eagerly waiting for the commercial banks’ second half open recruitment schedule, but even that remains uncertain. Usually, recruitment announcements are made at the end of this month or early September, but banks have not yet established detailed recruitment policies.

One bank official lamented, "With the continued spread of COVID-19 and the possibility of raising social distancing to level 3, it is difficult to set recruitment schedules prematurely." If recruitment schedules continue to be disrupted due to COVID-19, there is a possibility that "quality jobs" as bank employees may not increase this year in the worst case.

Bank employees are called "divine workplaces" due to their high salaries, stable jobs, and good social reputation. The average salary paid per employee in the first half by the six banks was 52.66 million KRW, which, when simply annualized, amounts to an annual salary of 105.32 million KRW. This is a 2.2% increase from the 51.5 million KRW received in the first half of last year and a 10.8% increase compared to 47.5 million KRW in 2018.