Thanks to a bull market in Korea's stock market in the first half of this year, "performance bonus jackpots" for rank-and-file employees that surpassed CEO pay have poured in across the securities industry. In contrast, many who took voluntary retirement ranked among the top high earners in the banking sector.
As Yeouido-style meritocracy stands out, a trend is emerging among young job seekers to prefer securities firms over conservative banks.
According to the securities industry on the 25th, among the high earners at major securities firms in the first half were not only CEOs and vice chairmen, but also on-the-ground staff such as directors, Director Generals, assistant directors, center heads, and branch managers.
The most notable case is Yuanta Securities Korea(003470). Director Lee Jong-seok received 22.721 billion won in the first half, making the highest compensation in the securities industry. His salary was only 13 million won and other earned income was 5 million won, but his bonus reached 22.730 billion won.
◇ Rank-and-file surpass CEO pay… hierarchy-busting in the securities industry
Five other top earners at Yuanta Securities Korea were also retail staff. Director Park Hwan-jin received 5.9 billion won, Director Park Jong-min 4.8 billion won, Director Jeong Woo-seok 3.7 billion won, and Director Yoon Eun-young 2.8 billion won, respectively.
At small and mid-size firms, high pay among front-line staff also stood out. At Bookook Securities, Executive Director Ryu Chan-yeol received 7.4 billion won, and Assistant Director Jin Hyun-soo received 6.2 billion won. At Hanwha Investment & Securities, Assistant Director Lee Han-sol's compensation was 1.8 billion won.
At large firms as well, many high earners surpassed management's annual pay. At Samsung Securities, branch sales manager Shin Yoon-cheol received 1.469 billion won, far exceeding CEO Park Jong-moon's 604 million won. Branch sales managers Nam Kyung-uk and Noh Hye-ran also received 1.146 billion won and 1.069 billion won, respectively.
At Hana Securities, Director General Kim Yong-gi received 2.453 billion won, four times more than CEO Kang Sung-mook's 536 million won. At Korea Investment & Securities Co., Director General Lee Jeong-ran received 4.307 billion won, close to CEO Kim Sung-hwan's 4.589 billion won. Assistant Director Lee Eun-je also received 2.1 billion won.
◇ Banks' top pay driven by voluntary retirement… shifting youth perceptions
At the four major commercial banks, quite a few employees earned around 1 billion won. But most high compensation at banks was retirement income. This contrasted with the securities industry, where active sales staff received multi-billion-won pay based on individual performance.
At Hana Bank, five retirees received 1.0–1.1 billion won in the first half, exceeding bank president Lee Ho-sung's 556 million won. In particular, one retiree received 1.06 billion won solely as a severance payment.
At KB Kookmin Bank, five retirees received 876 million–996 million won, and at Woori Bank, all top five were deputy general managers who took voluntary retirement, receiving 901 million–996 million won. At Shinhan Bank, President Jeong Sang-hyuk ranked first with 1.154 billion won, but the other four at the top were all retirees. Each received more than 900 million won.
Extreme performance-based pay is also changing young people's job preferences. According to HR tech company Incruit's survey of "financial corporations where college students want to work," securities firms recorded a 34.4% preference this year, trailing the top-ranked commercial banks (34.5%) by just 0.1 percentage point.
As recently as two years ago, the gap in the survey between banks (40%) and securities firms (26%) was 14 percentage points. This reflects a rapid shift among job seekers toward preferring clear performance rewards over the stability of seniority-based pay.
An official at a major domestic securities firm said, "In the securities industry, a system is entrenched that immediately converts the performance created by individuals and organizations into compensation, rather than focusing on rank or years of service," adding, "It appears that the meritocracy of the securities industry, where compensation caps open based on results, has significantly increased young people's preference for jobs in the securities sector."