The four major commercial banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, and Woori Bank) have been sharply cutting new hires each year despite record earnings. Banks, known for high salaries and called the "flower" of finance jobs and popular with job seekers, are said to have no choice but to reduce new hiring as non-face-to-face financial transactions expand.
According to the financial sector on the 26th, the combined number of open recruitment hires by the four major commercial banks—KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, and Woori—this year in the first and second halves totaled 1,185, about 10% down from last year's 1,320. Compared with 1,880 in 2023, two years ago, it fell by about 37%.
New hiring has declined, but resignations among existing employees are also increasing. According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system, as of the first half of this year, the four banks had a total of 53,794 executives and employees, down 1,272 from 55,066 in the first half of last year. With voluntary retirements at commercial banks reaching 2,000 each year, the number of bank employees is expected to keep shrinking.
Banks are reducing new hiring and encouraging voluntary retirement each year as a result of non-face-to-face services and digitalization. As non-face-to-face financial transactions become more active and in-person services at branches decline, workforce reductions are unavoidable. According to the Korea Federation of Banks, domestic bank branches fell from 6,738 at the end of 2019 to 5,625 at the end of last year, a decrease of 1,113 (16.5%) over five years.
With the sharp drop in the number of branches, financial authorities have expressed concern for customers unfamiliar with digital finance and for older customers and have issued guidelines, but it is difficult to reverse the dominant trend of fewer branches. In effect, most banking products are already being subscribed to online. Even for loans, where in-person services used to account for a larger share, banks are steering customers toward non-face-to-face finance by offering preferential rates for non-face-to-face loans.
In addition, a general strike being prepared by the banking sector, which is demanding a 4.5-day workweek, is expected to accelerate workforce reductions. With in-person workloads down, shorter working hours make it harder to increase headcount. The financial union will launch the banking sector's first general strike in three years on the 26th, demanding real wage increases and the introduction of a 4.5-day workweek. If talks with management do not proceed smoothly afterward, it could lead to a second and third strike.