Established Generation's 'God's Workplace' Financial Public Enterprises... MZ Generation Leaving in Droves

Complaints About 'Management' and 'Corporate Culture' Abound on Blind
Geumgong Employees Say "Many Supervisors Have Authoritarian Mindsets"
Criticism Also Points to Persistent Conservative and Closed Culture

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] Financial public enterprises, once considered "divine workplaces" by the older generation, are being shunned by the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z). Despite high salaries and guaranteed retirement, many employees in their 20s and 30s are quitting shortly after joining due to the financial sector's uniquely closed culture. Analysts suggest that the trend of prioritizing work-life balance (WLB) over compensation has influenced this phenomenon.

According to industry sources on the 13th, dissatisfaction among junior employees within financial public enterprises has been increasing recently. This is due to overlapping issues such as a so-called "kkondae"-like corporate culture and promotion and treatment problems caused by personnel stagnation. A financial public enterprise official hinted, "Among new employees, one or two tend to quit shortly after joining," adding, "Many express stress caused by the corporate culture."

Complaints are being voiced even more candidly in anonymous communities. On the workplace community application "Blind," financial public enterprises receive worse reviews compared to other public enterprises and private financial companies. Blind allows verified employees to rate and evaluate their companies by category. Summarizing the content, most financial public enterprises received the lowest scores in "management" and "corporate culture."

An employee working at a financial public enterprise in the metropolitan area criticized, "Although the external perception is good, authoritative-minded supervisors cause stress," and added, "Among the superiors, there were seniors who seemed to lack expertise, having been parachuted in." Another insider pointed out, "The culture where high-ranking officials want to be treated with ceremony felt very 'kkondae'-like."

‘Leaving Financial Public Enterprises’ Series on YouTube... Closed Corporate Culture is the Cause

Since last year, a series titled "Leaving Financial Public Enterprises" has been uploaded on YouTube and other social networking services (SNS). One YouTuber shared a story about leaving a financial public enterprise to join a startup with a salary cut of several tens of millions of won. The content was viewed by 100,000 people and received hundreds of comments expressing empathy.

The conservative atmosphere unique to the financial sector remaining in financial public enterprises is analyzed as the cause. Private banks have been steadily letting go of middle-aged employees in their 40s and 50s to downsize. Recently, holding company chairpersons and bank presidents have emphasized communication with the MZ generation and demanded corporate culture innovation. In contrast, financial public enterprises have many senior employees due to relatively minimal wage peak systems and voluntary retirement programs, and attempts at corporate culture innovation have been lacking, according to the overall industry evaluation.

The "salary merit" of financial public enterprises is also criticized as an optical illusion. Due to an inverted pyramid structure with many high-ranking officials, salaries appear high, but the monthly pay of new employees is not high. According to Alio, a management information disclosure system, the average annual salary of financial public enterprises is 94.75 million won, about 25.44 million won higher than the average of 69.31 million won for public enterprises, quasi-governmental institutions, and other public organizations. However, the starting salary is in the low 40 million won range, which is comparable to or lower than other industries.

Professor Sung Tae-yoon of Yonsei University's Department of Economics explained, "There are limitations to stable jobs," adding, "The difference from past generations is that capable employees leave to take on challenges whenever alternatives exist."