After Salaries Surpass Banks...Mass Resignations at the 'God's Workplace' Filled Only with Elites

First Annual Salary Reversal Among 4 Major Banks in 2021
Commercial Banks Achieve Record High Performance Amid Base Rate Hikes
Number of Resignations Also Rises

The average annual salary of employees at the Bank of Korea, often referred to as the "God's workplace," has not narrowed the gap since it was first surpassed by commercial banks three years ago.

According to the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee's audit materials submitted by the Bank of Korea on the 16th, last year, the average annual salary of Bank of Korea employees was recorded at 107.4 million KRW. It was 106 million KRW in 2020, 103 million KRW in 2021, and 103.3 million KRW in 2022, showing little significant increase over time. The annual wage increase rates were 2.7% in 2020, 0.7% in 2021, 1.2% in 2022, and 1.2% in 2023, all below the inflation rate.

On the other hand, the average annual salary of employees at the four major commercial banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana) reached 116 million KRW last year. In 2020, it was 98 million KRW, below 100 million KRW, but it rose sharply to 105.5 million KRW in 2021 and 112.8 million KRW in 2022. As a result, the Bank of Korea's average salary was caught up by commercial banks starting in 2021. The gap increased from 5.2 million KRW in 2021 to 9.5 million KRW in 2022, then slightly narrowed to 8.6 million KRW last year.

The year 2021, when the average salary of commercial banks increased, coincided with the Bank of Korea's shift to monetary tightening. The Bank of Korea's Monetary Policy Committee raised the base interest rate from 0.50% to 0.75% in August 2021 and continued to raise it a total of 10 times until it reached 3.50%. While the Bank of Korea tightened monetary policy through interest rate hikes, commercial banks repeatedly posted record-breaking profits due to sharply rising interest rates.

Around 2021, when employee treatment was caught up by the banking sector, the number of employees leaving the Bank of Korea also increased. The number of retirees at the Bank of Korea rose significantly from 132 in 2020 and 136 in 2021 to 160 in 2022. In particular, retirements among relatively young grade 4-5 employees (managers to researchers) increased gradually from 62 in 2020 and 71 in 2021 to 80 in 2022. Additionally, retirements among employees in their 20s or younger also increased from 2 in 2020 and 3 in 2021 to 11 in 2022 and 8 in 2023.