Recently, it was common for developer employees to go to Korea Securities Computing Corporation (KOSCOM) to learn for a few years before moving to another IT corporation. However, these days it seems that IT corporations are having difficulties as well, as we find one or two individuals coming to our company.
This was said during a conversation with a department head at Korea Securities Computing Corporation (KOSCOM) about the hiring atmosphere. Shadows of economic recession are spreading to information technology (IT) corporations, changing the situation for developers significantly. It is said that developers and job seekers from domestic major platform corporations, known as "Naver, Kakao, Line, Coupang, and Baedal Minjok," are starting to turn their attention to the financial sector.
The first place to notice changes in the hiring atmosphere in the financial sector seems to be Korea Securities Computing Corporation (KOSCOM). KOSCOM, an IT subsidiary of the Korea Exchange, was known until the early 2010s as a place where top talent in finance and IT gathered. This is because it was responsible for creating the overall infrastructure and systems for stock transactions, enjoying job security and high salaries and benefits due to its status as a public institution. It is often classified as a "dream job" because the competitive intensity is relatively lower.
However, around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, platform corporations experienced rapid growth, leading to a surge in developers and job seekers hoping to enter IT corporations in pursuit of the latest development trends, high salaries, and stock options. Although KOSCOM offers high salaries, it is true that the wage benefits are less favorable compared to the platform corporations.
There is also the aspect that the work is less rewarding. In the case of developers in the financial sector, the characteristics of a regulated industry lead to a focus on maintenance (SM)-oriented development, earning the nickname "developer's graveyard." There is also a negative perception that their development skills are relatively lower.
However, recently, as the economy rapidly contracts, IT corporations are also closing their doors to hiring. According to a survey conducted by the largest developer community OKKY regarding the hiring trends for new developers, 50% of 18 IT corporations with more than 100 employees reported they do not have plans to hire new developers in the first half of this year. Among smaller corporations (53 companies), 59.2% also stated they currently have no plans for hiring. The main reason cited was that 38.03% reported "the economic and business conditions are not good."
Furthermore, the benefits of working in the financial sector have increased, allowing for work-life balance, avoiding frequent overtime and high work intensity that IT developers often encounter. A 20-something developer at KOSCOM noted, "We are starting to see people who have moved from large IT corporations to our company. Usually, they are in their late 20s to early 30s, and the biggest reason they came to KOSCOM is that they were tired of the endless competition."
In fact, there seems to be great demand for KOSCOM from developers who want to stay at one company for a long time without frequent job changes. On social media (SNS), there are posts promoting KOSCOM as a good place to work, referring to it as a "hidden dream job" and "Yeoido public servant." The developer, A, stated, "If we exclude the point that KOSCOM cannot adjust working hours, the work intensity is less than that of other IT corporations, and the salary is also satisfying."
Of course, it is not the case that developers overwhelmingly prefer to work in the financial sector as they did in the 2000s. However, the fact that they are beginning to consider financial corporations as potential places of employment reflects the rapid changes in the developer hiring market that have occurred in less than a decade.
A developer in their 30s, who has been working for 8 years, stated, "IT corporations are in a saturated market for developers, so even if they are hiring, they are looking for only a few experienced hires as densely as possible. There is a perception that hiring hurdles are lower in the financial sector, and with a reasonable workload and good work-life balance, there is a trend among developers considering job changes."