Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
What matters to bankers? Corporate culture vs. pay
By Kim Bo-eun
By Kim Bo-eun
A KakaoBank employee, formerly employed by one of the nation's top four commercial banks, said he did not feel comfortable speaking directly to the internet bank's CEO, despite having spent several years working there.
Throughout his tenure at the previous bank, the closest the employee ever came to the CEO was being on the other side of the room across from him during an annual ceremony.
However, at KakaoBank, business is conducted a little more organically. Here, the CEO works directly with employees in a common area and they address each other by their English names.
This is simply unthinkable at traditional Korean banks, which still remain very rigid in structure despite initiatives in recent years to adapt to changing times.
KakaoBank employees can also decide how many hours they will work on a daily and weekly basis, based on familial or other personal needs.
An employee of the internet bank can show up at work dressed in cycle gear, if he or she wants to go cycling after work.
The atmosphere is just totally different, compared to bankers clad in dark suits wearing badges bearing the bank's name.
Of the fifteen KB Financial Group's employees that moved to KakaoBank in 2016, all decided to stay at the internet bank because they concluded they wouldn't be able to return to the rigid, hierarchal system after having spent four years in an entirely different, more flexible working culture.
It is known that the level of pay at major banks is considerably high, higher than that of KakaoBank.
Yet, corporate culture appears to have had a remarkable influence on the workers, in addition to the bank's growth potential and stock options they were offered ahead of KakaoBank's planned IPO this year.
A source in the finance sector likened the culture to that of the fintech industry.
"While the atmosphere at KakaoBank would be regarded highly unfamiliar in the banking sector, this is simply what IT companies based in Pangyo are like," the official said.