Banks vying to secure digital talent

By Lee Min-hyung

Getty Images Bank

Local banks are going all-out to recruit more digital-savvy employees, as non-face-to-face transactions are rapidly replacing traditional sales activities.

The move will continue to pick up steam, with banks here and abroad seeking to embrace the shift towards digital operations to ensure their survival amid the prolonged economic slowdown and toughening market rivalry, according to industry officials.

Major commercial lenders here remain aggressive in recruiting experts in the digital and information and communication technology (ICT) areas so as not to fall behind global banking trends.

KB Kookmin Bank, the nation's largest bank in terms of 2019 net profit, is receiving applications for IT engineers whose primary task will be to establish non-face-to-face digital platforms. Those with more than five years of experience in developing online programs are eligible for the position.

But lenders, including KB, are struggling to recruit top-level IT experts here, as they in general choose to work for the world's leading technology companies in the United States.

“Highly competent engineers prefer to build their careers in global leading tech companies such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon,” a ranking official from the lender said.

“Financial companies are not considered attractive options for them to choose,” the official said. “Their secondary options include local IT firms, such as Naver and Kakao.”

Despite the recruitment hardship, the lender underlined the need to continue expanding its investment in the digital sector to maintain its leading status.

Shinhan Bank, the runner-up lender here, also shared Monday its plan to hire software experts with no fixed deadline for recruitment. Of note is that the bank has introduced non-face-to-face interviews for applicants this year amid the global spread of the coronavirus.

Korea Development Bank is also jumping on the digital bandwagon by hiring officials with expertise in data processing and big data. The state-run lender plans to verify the coding capabilities from applicants.

For about two weeks from April 27, the Industrial Bank of Korea will accept applications from prospective employees and it plans to hire 25 officials in such areas as IT, fintech and big data analysis, it said.

A computer science professor, who requested anonymity, said the IT brain drain would continue until the government draws up specific roadmaps to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“For now, Korea appears to be unprepared to embrace the technological paradigm shift, as the government still sticks to coming up with populist policies on enhancing trendy tech areas, such as artificial intelligence, without a clear longer-term plan to enhance research on basic science,” he said.