"Experts Say Retirement Is a National Waste: Returning to Work at SMEs"

Interview with Gong Janghwan, CEO of Talent Bank
Possesses 3,500 Experts in Marketing, Distribution, Finance, and More
240% Rapid Growth in Workforce Matching Since COVID-19
Short-term Hiring Boosts Senior Employment and Solves Skilled Labor Shortage in SMEs

Interest in the new talent matching platform 'Talent Bank' is growing, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that require 'specialized personnel' as much as young talent. Gong Changhwan, CEO of Talent Bank, explained, "Since COVID-19, requests from SMEs challenging new businesses or promoting online marketing projects have been steadily increasing." Photo by Kim Heeyoon

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] “Talent Bank’s service is a model that applies the gig economy to the recruitment market, reducing the hiring burden for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies that require professional personnel, while increasing project success rates.”

Talent Bank, a recruitment platform company that matches retired professionals with SMEs, mid-sized companies, and startups, is pioneering a new area in the hiring market with a repeat request rate exceeding 60%. Launched by edutech company Hunet as a model introducing the gig economy (a form where companies contract work on a short-term basis as needed) to the recruitment market, Talent Bank recorded 1,000 matches within three years of its 2018 launch. CEO Gong Janghwan explained, “Since COVID-19, requests from SMEs challenging new businesses or pushing online marketing projects have steadily increased.”

The non-face-to-face culture popularized by COVID-19 has changed the paradigm of not only industries but the entire recruitment market. The conventional perception that regular employees are winners and non-regular employees are losers has expanded the recruitment area to project-based hiring through the untact culture after COVID-19. Meanwhile, although the average life expectancy has steadily increased to 83.3 years, the legal retirement age remains at 60, making reemployment after retirement essential.

Every year, about 1,000 executives who joined as new employees and worked for over 20 years, becoming “stars of the organization” in large corporations, retire, and their experience and know-how evaporate. CEO Gong said, “The cost invested in developing one executive is enormous, but when they retire, the intangible assets accumulated from their vast experience disappear, which I believe is a national waste beyond just a corporate loss.” He added, “As the public’s health level rises and the active business lifespan extends, we are creating various cases through a new recruitment platform that can newly utilize their experience and capabilities.” Initially, experts from large corporations were the main clients, but recently, young professionals with experience in new platforms such as marketing and video have been joining. Talent Bank’s system, which thoroughly verifies the capabilities and careers of affiliated experts through document screening and in-depth interviews, has driven the high matching success rate. Currently, about 3,500 experts who have passed internal verification are registered with Talent Bank.

SMEs Reduce Hiring Burden, Professionals Expand Activities After Retirement

CEO Gong, who oversaw advertising marketing and digital content at SK Telecom, Yahoo, and eBay, is a platform business expert who was appointed CEO after serving as Talent Bank’s Business Director (BD). The fields most frequently requested by companies through Talent Bank recently were marketing (23%), management strategy and new business (19%), and sales, purchasing, and distribution (17%). Gong explained, “With the industrial landscape changing due to COVID-19, marketing and new business have become the most urgent challenges for SMEs and mid-sized companies that traditionally operated offline.” He cited an example from last year where a pet supplement manufacturing company challenged online sales, requested Talent Bank’s help, matched with an online commerce expert, established a subsidiary, launched a new brand, and successfully solved the problem.

The response of SMEs to these market changes has directly translated into results. Talent Bank announced that project requests increased by 240% compared to 2019 after COVID-19. SMEs can reduce failure costs from hiring while utilizing experts at reasonable costs, and professionals can selectively choose work that fits their desired time and field, indicating greater market expansion potential. Talent Bank is planning an export-specialized program by recruiting overseas Korean experts to provide consulting as SME export demand increases. CEO Gong said, “We plan to launch an online consulting service early next year that allows short-term consulting from experts before matching, including overseas consulting.” He added, “We are also preparing to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to the matching system by big data-izing the expert pool and matching cases, aiming to play a leading role in presenting new hiring trends.”