Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.
Financial firms ready for phased normalization of operations
Seen above is a commercial bank's sales office in Seoul on Nov. 23, 2021. Yonhap
By Lee Min-hyung
By Lee Min-hyung
With the government lifting its years-long social distancing rules on Monday, financial firms are expected to take phased steps to normalize their work-from-home systems.
Banks and most financial companies in areas such as securities and insurance have been relying on remote work systems ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic early in 2020.
But after the country decided to ease almost all social distancing restrictions ― except for mask mandates ― most financial companies are holding internal talks on how and when to normalize their own rules.
According to the industry, banks here are discussing details on the agenda with relevant organizations ― such as the Korean Financial Industry Union and the Korea Federation of Banks.
Most commercial banks are widely expected to put a gradual end to their pandemic-era remote work systems in line with the government's latest decision ― but details are subject to change, as mask mandates remain in place, according to industry officials.
“Workers at banks and most financial institutions will have to go back to their offices in line with the lifting of the social distancing rules,” an official from a major commercial bank said.
Shinhan Bank said Monday it would update quarantine rules on April 25 by resuming normal operations of its sales offices without any entry restrictions.
But the lender decided to maintain its current workforce management policy by making 30 percent of its employees work from home.
Other lenders are also expected to take phased steps to normalize the operation of their sales offices and put a gradual end to the pandemic-era measures.
Starting from late 2020, commercial banks here started reducing operating hours of their sales offices by one hour amid then-reviving fears of infection here. It remains unclear when they will extend the operation hours, as it requires discussion with the aforementioned organizations, which the industry expects will take at least a couple of months.
Officials from the securities industry also said they are reducing the proportion of employees working from home.
“Securities companies are moving to minimize the number of officials telecommuting,” an industry source said. “But no immediate policy change has been made as of now, as it has been only less than a day since the lifting of the social distancing rules.”
But the official hinted at the likelihood that most securities companies will soon normalize their operations unless infection cases skyrocket in the next few weeks, as more countries are adopting so-called “living with COVID-19” policies.
“For the past two years, the social distancing rules have been eased and reinforced from time to time in line with the number of infected cases,” the official said. “Most companies are keeping a wait-and-see attitude this time again, leaving open the possibility of resuming social distancing once again, even if chances appear slim for the scenario to become a reality this time.”