Banks Opened Recruitment in the First Half of the Year... But Hiring Opportunities Are Narrowing

Hana and Woori Bank Begin First-Half Recruitment
Hiring Numbers Expected to Decrease Due to Branch Consolidation and Digitalization

The banking sector, often regarded as a "dream workplace," has opened its doors for new employee recruitment in the first half of this year, but the hiring scale is expected to be similar to or slightly smaller than last year. This is attributed to the continuous decrease in the number of branches, organizational slimming through restructuring, and the shift to non-face-to-face services due to financial digitalization.

According to the banking sector on the 5th, Hana Bank was the first to start recruitment. Hana Bank is accepting applications for new employees from the 24th of last month until the 17th of this month. The hiring scale is 150 people, the same as the first half of last year. Hana Bank reduced its hiring scale slightly from 460 in 2023 to 400 in 2024.

Next, Woori Bank also announced its recruitment for the first half of the year. Woori Bank is accepting applications from the 25th of last month until the 10th of this month. The hiring scale is 190 people, 10 more than the 180 in the first half of last year. Woori Bank hired 500 people in 2023 but reduced the number by 22% to 390 in 2024.

NH Nonghyup Bank usually conducts recruitment in the first and second halves of the year, but it is expected not to recruit in the first half this year. This is because, unusually, it hired 580 new employees in the second half of last year, including the number for the first half of this year. Nonghyup Bank has maintained a hiring scale of around 100 people, with 137 in 2021, 110 in 2022, and 150 in 2023, but last year it hired more than the usual scale. A Nonghyup Bank official said, "Last year, we unusually completed the first half recruitment in the second half, but it is uncertain whether this method will continue. Since we hired an exceptionally large number, recruitment for both the first and second halves of this year is undecided."

In addition, KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank have not yet announced their recruitment. A Kookmin Bank official said, "Although recruitment is usually conducted in the first and second halves of the year, the specific scale and timing have not been confirmed yet." Shinhan Bank is also undecided.

As a result, the hiring scale of the five major banks in the first half of this year is expected to fall below 500, and the annual hiring scale is also expected to decrease compared to previous years. This is analyzed to be due to branch consolidations from digital transformation and organizational slimming from restructuring. In fact, the number of regular general employees at commercial banks has been steadily decreasing. According to the Korea Federation of Banks, the number of regular general employees at commercial banks was 62,924 in 2018, 61,892 in 2019, 60,492 in 2020, 58,189 in 2021, 55,198 in 2022, 54,808 in 2023, and 57,382 in 2024. The increase in 2024 compared to the previous year is considered a special case in the 2023 hiring market, attributed to a temporary increase in hiring as part of win-win finance under the direction of financial authorities at that time.

The steady decrease in the number of branches also appears to have affected the hiring scale. The number of branches of the five major banks decreased by 137 from 3,927 in 2023 to 3,790 currently.

A commercial bank official said, "Not only has the number of hires decreased due to digital transformation, but the hiring fields have shifted, with increases in digital and specialized areas but decreases in general clerks. Usually, the second half recruitment scale is larger than the first half, but this year is uncertain."