Banks recruit retirees to capitalize on their expertise at cheaper costs

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By Lee Kyung-min

• Published Jul 20, 2025 4:22 PM KST

Commercial lenders are rushing to rehire retired employees, prompted by widespread non-face-to-face services where decades of experience by highly trained retirees can speed up the process, market watchers said Sunday.

These roles include anti-money laundering (AML), group loan consultations, financial fraud response and remote household loan screening.

KB Kookmin Bank has posted job openings this month. Eligible applicants are those who retired from the bank after June 2015.

They will work eight hours per day, five days a week.

The contract will have to be renewed every year. This rehiring is a great way to save labor costs, given the salaries in the banking industry.

Banks pay slightly more than the state-set minimum wage — currently about 2.1 million won ($1,500) per month.

For example, AML work will pay 85,600 won per day, amounting to 2.57 million won per month.

Group loan consultation work will pay 102,400 won per day, adding up to a monthly total of 3.07 million won.

Woori Bank plans to post a similar job opening next week.

Others have rehired retired employees to extend and screen loans and for financial education.

The trend, meanwhile, fans concerns that this may lead to fewer full-time entry-level hires.

“The number of rehires is likely to increase,” an industry official said.

“The hired can have a new source of stable income, while the banks can immediately put them to work, fully capitalizing on their decades of experience and know-how. Corporate efficiency is improved as a result. Many are likely to embrace this trend.”