Riding the Korea stock market rally, securities firms that logged record earnings are moving to hire new employees in the first half of this year. Expectations are building for large-scale open recruitment in step with the sharp increase in results, but the industry projects hiring will remain around the usual scale.
According to the financial investment industry on the 16th, Samsung Securities is hiring entry-level third-grade employees for the first half from the 10th to the 17th across Chonbang fields including wealth management (WM), investment banking (IB), alternative investment (IB), management, sales, and research. Hana Securities is also conducting open recruitment for new employees from Feb. 27 to the 13th in IB, S&T, WM, digital (AI), and IT. NH Investment & Securities is hiring new college graduates for the first half from the 5th to the 20th.
Mirae Asset Securities and Korea Investment & Securities Co., which have previously conducted open recruitment, have not yet announced hiring plans, but the industry expects both companies to launch open hiring within the year. Mirae Asset Securities and Korea Investment & Securities Co. conducted open recruitment in the first half of 2025.
Earlier, as major securities firms posted record results, there were expectations of large-scale hiring. In fact, the combined consolidated net profit of five large securities firms last year—Mirae Asset Securities, Korea Investment & Securities Co., Samsung Securities, NH Investment & Securities, and Kiwoom Securities—came to about 6.744 trillion won. All five joined the "1 trillion won net profit club" for the first time, and Korea Investment & Securities Co. recorded net profit in the 2 trillion won range.
However, the industry notes that even if conditions improve, it is difficult to significantly expand headcount due to branch reductions and the spread of online trading. A securities industry official said, "In the past, there were many clients visiting branches, so when conditions improved, it was necessary to increase WM institutional sector staff, but recently, as HTS and MTS-centered transactions have expanded, the need to sharply increase staff has diminished," adding, "Instead, with a focus on strengthening digital talent such as IT and artificial intelligence (AI), the overall headcount does not change much."
In fact, an analysis of last year's and this year's staffing at major securities firms shows WM institutional sector staff decreased while other staff increased. According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system, NH Investment & Securities' WM institutional sector division in 2025 had 958 employees, down 1.3% from the previous year (971), while headquarters sales and headquarters support had 2,179, up 1.3% from the previous year (2,150). At Samsung Securities, entrusted trading staff in 2025 was 756, down 1.9% from the previous year (771), while proprietary trading (19.17%) and other (5.5%) increased.
In particular, compensation systems for digital talent such as IT, whose importance is growing in new business institutional sectors, are also changing. At Mirae Asset Securities, the board met in January this year and resolved to grant 1.1 million stock options to 16 specialist personnel in key digital fields such as AI, Blockchain, and Web3. An industry official said, "Granting stock options to non-executive employees is unusual in the securities industry," adding, "It appears to be a move in response to the growing importance of digital competitiveness."
Given the nature of the securities industry, where business conditions are highly volatile, there is also analysis that it is difficult to sharply increase headcount even in boom times. Another industry official said, "Securities firms operate in a sector where conditions vary greatly with external variables," adding, "Rather than immediately expanding staff during a boom, there is a tendency to keep hiring at a certain level to prepare for downturns."
Accordingly, securities firms are running open recruitment alongside rolling recruitment. In the first half of last year, major securities firms—excluding Mirae Asset Securities, Korea Investment & Securities Co., Hana Securities, NH Investment & Securities, and Samsung Securities—such as Kiwoom Securities, Shinhan Investment, Daishin Securities, KB Securities, and Meritz Securities, strengthened rolling recruitment rather than expanding open recruitment. A securities industry official said, "Large firms benefit more than small and mid-sized firms from a bullish market," adding, "Small and mid-sized securities firms are shifting hiring strategies to bring in needed talent in a timely manner."