‘Small and Medium Enterprise Employees Preferred Savings Deduction’ Reaches 10,000 Subscribers

Reached 10,000th Subscriber Just 23 Days After Launch

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Hana Bank announced on the 13th that they celebrated and encouraged the 10,000th employee of a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) to join the ‘SME Employee Preferential Savings Deduction’ at Hana Bank Gangseo Financial Center Branch in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul.

Since its launch on October 22, 10,000 people have joined in just 23 days, which is more than twice as fast as the ‘Youth Employee Tomorrow Filling Deduction’ introduced in 2018, which reached 10,000 members 60 days after its launch.

The ‘SME Employee Preferential Savings Deduction’ is a product created through the combined efforts of companies, banks, and the government. SME employees who pay 500,000 KRW monthly for five years, totaling 30 million KRW, will receive 40.27 million KRW after five years, including an additional 10.27 million KRW. This is equivalent to earning a 34% return by subscribing to a savings account with a maximum annual interest rate of 13.5%.

To join the savings deduction, SMEs must apply to the Small and Medium Business Corporation, and then employees can subscribe to the ‘SME Employee Preferential Savings’ at Hana Bank or IBK Industrial Bank of Korea.

The 10,000th subscriber today is Minjeong Kim, a young female employee working at Natureoda located in Asan, Chungnam. She said, “Although I have not been with the company for long, I am grateful that the company supports such a great product,” and added, “I hope there will be more products that provide better benefits to SME employees in the future.”

Donghoon Byeon, CEO of Natureoda, explained, “It is difficult for SMEs to find people, and even when they find talent, many move to other companies, so we have many concerns about manpower issues,” adding, “The savings deduction can encourage long-term employment of hard-to-find talent, which will greatly help alleviate the manpower shortage.”

Jiwon Jo, CEO of Cots Technology, who supported 89 employees to join, said, “In the past, the Youth Employee Tomorrow Filling Deduction or Tomorrow Filling Deduction could only enroll some employees due to the company’s burden, but by lowering the company’s burden and applying preferential interest rates, we were able to enroll all desired employees,” and added, “We can provide welfare to more employees, which will help create a more enthusiastic company.”

Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, said, “I thank the SME owners and employees for their passionate interest and participation,” and added, “This shows that everyone is working together to solve the manpower shortage in SMEs, and I will take greater responsibility and strive to resolve the manpower issues of SMEs.”