Banks slash hiring despite record earnings amid digital overhaul

Job seekers wait for on-site interviews and recruitment consultations at a joint job fair for financial companies at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, in this file photo taken on Aug. 23, 2023. Newsis

Sung Chang-min, an office worker in his 50s, feels anxiety watching his son delay college graduation in pursuit of increasingly scarce banking jobs.

“He was supposed to graduate last year, but banks had already cut back on hiring,” Sung said. “Since being unemployed after graduation doesn’t look good on a resume, he decided to put it off for another year, hoping his chances would improve as bank earnings have been rising. But the situation only got worse.”

Sung referred to the country’s four largest commercial banks — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana and Woori — which collectively plan to hire just 725 new employees in the second half of 2025.

Combined with recruitment from the first half of the year, the four banks plan to recruit only 1,185 people in 2025, down 10 percent from the 1,320 new jobs created in 2024 and 37 percent less than the 1,880 hired in 2023.

KB Kookmin Bank has steadily reduced its hiring, from 420 people in 2023 to 290 in 2025. During the same time span, Shinhan Bank recruitment numbers dropped from 500 to 190, Hana Bank from 460 to 320, and Woori Bank from 500 to 385.

These job cuts are especially surprising in light of the record profitability for these banks, who say they are under growing pressure to adapt quickly to digital technology and changes in the financial industry.

In 2024, the financial holding companies of the four major banks reported a combined net profit of 16.42 trillion won ($11.57 billion), up 10.3 percent from the previous year.

A significant portion of this came from interest income, which rose 3.1 percent from 40.62 trillion won in 2023 to 41.87 trillion won in 2024.

This momentum has continued into 2025. In the first half alone, the four financial holding companies posted a combined net profit of 10.32 trillion won, surpassing the 10 trillion-won mark for the first time.

They are expected to earn an additional 5.1 trillion won in the third quarter of 2025, raising the chances of setting another annual profit record.

“Despite soaring profits, the banks face challenges to improving long-term workforce efficiency and securing future growth engines in the digital era,” a PR official at one of major local lenders said.

He pointed to the rapid adoption of AI, the growth of non-face-to-face services and diversification into non-banking business areas.

He also said that amid such a fast-evolving banking landscape, lenders are shifting their emphasis "from quantity to quality by reducing entry-level hiring while increasing recruitment of experienced professionals and rehiring retirees."

“Digital transformation is fundamentally changing how banks recruit and manage talent. Instead of mass-hiring entry-level workers, we’re moving toward flexible, role-specific hiring to match specialized skills with operational needs," the official added.