By Park Jin-hai
Shinhan Bank and several other major banks announced Sunday that they will expand hiring this year, nearly doubling recruitment from the previous year.
Shinhan Bank will expand the number of its new employees to 1,000 from last year’s 590. The hiring breaks down to 350 college graduates; including 70 high school graduates and 280 women, who had to quit their jobs to care for their children, plus 220 part-timers.
Calling it “warm employment,” Shinhan Bank CEO Cho Yong-byoung said, “Employment is important for banks, but it is also important in terms of corporate responsibility. We will maintain our warm employment policy in the future, extending help to diverse classes of people.”
Kookmin Bank will also more than double the size of its recruitment to 800 from last year’s 355. This will include jobs for 300 women whose career has stalled as they raised children.
Kookmin Bank says its employment policy will leave out specifications such as educational background to hire talents with job competency.
To enforce local branches’ business, the bank will hold interview sessions across the country to select regional job-seekers.
“We decided to raise the new employment sharply to join the social movement where all sectors work hard to ease youth unemployment and give job opportunities to women whose career have been cut short,” said Kookmin Bank CEO Yoon Jong-kyoo.
IBK expanded new hiring to 400 this year, from 220 last year, while Woori Bank said it will enlarge its recruitment substantially from last year’s nearly 500, while not revealing the exact number.
Hana Bank and its affiliate Korea Exchange Bank are likely to increase their employment once the plan to merge is completed.
Hana Bank, which hired 428 people in 2010, downsized new recruitment to 118 last year, while KEB had no fresh recruitment last year.
“When the services are unified, we expect cost cuts and have more room to hire more people. In the long run, we will raise new recruitment,” said Hana Financial Chairman Kim Jung-tai.