The stagnant economy is sending a chill through the job market. The securities sector in Yeouido is no exception. The days of large-scale public recruitment of new employees have become a thing of the past. Now, it is common to fill necessary personnel unit by unit through a small number of experienced and intern positions.
According to the financial investment industry on the 21st, only 6 out of the top 10 domestic securities firms (Mirae Asset Securities, Korea Investment & Securities, NH Investment & Securities, Samsung Securities, KB Securities, Hana Securities, Meritz Securities, Shinhan Investment Corp., Kiwoom Securities, Daishin Securities) conducted public recruitment of new employees this year.
In the first half of the year, NH Investment & Securities and KB Securities recruited new employees through public recruitment, while Korea Investment & Securities, Samsung Securities, Shinhan Investment Corp., and Kiwoom Securities either conducted public recruitment or are currently in the process. In contrast, Daishin Securities has not conducted public recruitment for the second consecutive year since last year. Hana Securities has only held special recruitment for vocational high school students this October. Mirae Asset Securities only recruited through public recruitment for graduates from overseas universities and separately recruited new employees in the investment banking (IB) sector. Meritz Securities is currently hiring new and experienced employees only for departments or teams that need personnel.
Expanding the scope to small and medium-sized securities firms reveals even more that have not engaged in public recruitment. Kyobo Securities and Hanwha Investment & Securities conducted public recruitment for new employees in the latter half of last year in fields such as investment banking and corporate sales at headquarters, but this year they have not opened recruitment. Kyobo Securities is currently in the process of hiring interns linked to information technology (IT) only. Kyobo Securities was the last place in Yeouido to maintain a public recruitment culture, but now such stories are in the past.
Securities firms prefer to hire experienced and contracted employees through irregular recruitment, which saves training expenses and allows for immediate placement of personnel in necessary departments. This trend is particularly evident as economic forecasts are unfavorable and the number of sales branches is also decreasing.
A representative from a large securities firm noted, “To hire multiple personnel at once and train them simultaneously requires a significant investment in expenses from the company's standpoint,” adding, “The reason many firms, including securities firms, are reducing public recruitment is that it is not financially viable.”
The culture of job-hopping in securities firms has also become more active. Most securities firms, including those that conduct public recruitment, are bringing in talent through irregular hiring of experienced workers. The past culture where employees recruited through public hiring were given preferential treatment in department placements is fading, leading to a reduced necessity for public recruitment as employees increasingly seek to move to companies offering better conditions.
A representative from a small to medium-sized securities firm, who joined through public recruitment over 10 years ago, remarked, “Many young employees are moving to places offering higher salaries after learning for 2-3 years,” and added, “It is somewhat disappointing to see them transition without hesitation to companies that offer slightly better treatment or incentives.”
There are still securities firms maintaining a large-scale public recruitment culture. Korea Investment & Securities is one of them. The number of recruits varies each year, but it is known for bringing in the highest number of new employees annually, around 100, in Yeouido.
Korea Investment & Securities reportedly values new public recruitment at the holding company level. Chairman Kim Nam-gu of Korea Investment Holdings is famous for personally attending university recruitment presentations every year since 2003. He also led virtual recruitment presentations for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chairman Kim attended a recruitment presentation at Korea University in September of this year, where he stated, “As South Korea undergoes aging, the importance of the securities industry, where money makes money, will grow even more than the manufacturing industry, which earns money,” adding, “I am looking for individuals who are not satisfied with the present, who challenge themselves, and who wish to pursue their dreams.”
Unless more securities firms actively engage in new hiring like Korea Financial Investment Group, it seems unlikely that recruitment opportunities for university students will expand as they did in the past. Kim Mo, a 27-year-old who joined a securities firm this year as a new employee, expressed, “These days, even firms that conduct public recruitment are mostly hiring only around 20 people,” noting, “I often see students aspiring to enter the securities industry expressing frustration over the heightened recruitment barriers.”