Financial firms to resume virus-delayed hiring

A man looks at a listing of jobs at a district office building in Seoul, April 17. Korea Times file

By Lee Kyung-min

State-run financial organizations and commercial banks are moving to resume hiring, a process largely suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, industry sources said Sunday.

The Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) plan to finalize the process by July at the earliest, following application requirements, essay reviews, aptitude tests and interviews. Up to 50 openings are expected at the KDB and about 250 at the IBK.

NongHyup Bank plans to conduct interviews with those shortlisted in the third week of May, about three months after the aptitude test was carried out in February.

Woori and Shinhan Banks are likely to accept applicants in the latter half while leaving some limited openings available for those with expertise in information technology (IT), investment banking (IB) and fund management.

About 26,000 openings will be available at state-run organizations, in line with the government initiative to create jobs in the public sector.

Hiring procedures at the financial firms ― notably banks ― are likely to be stringent due to a stricter screening criteria instituted following a slew of hiring fraud involving many key management figures at leading commercial banks.

Applicants with strong credentials will be preferred, including licensed certified financial planners or those with certifications for financial knowledge and management.

The strengthened measures reflect criticism that under-qualified people landed jobs at the much-coveted, highly paid firms only because they had connections to figures with power and influence in a rigged procedure.

Also drawing keen attention is whether the plan will be enough to bring back vibrancy to the much-tightened job market.

A survey by the Korea Employment Information Service showed that 144,886 openings were offered by private companies in March via Worknet, a state-run job search site affiliated with the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

This is down 24.5 percent, or 46,982, from a year earlier, mostly due to cancelled or delayed hiring brought on by rapid corporate deterioration following the pandemic.

The sharp drop in demand is indicative of fierce competition in the job market, given the number of jobseekers stayed more or less the same, reporting only a 0.4 percent year-on-year increase.

According to a survey of 262 firms between April 14 and 17 by Incruit, a job search site, nearly half of surveyed firms said they had no recruitment plan scheduled or were uncertain whether they would hire new workers after the coronavirus pandemic.

The same response was given by about 15 percent before the virus outbreak.

Those who responded that they would certainly hire new employees dropped to 21.1 percent, about a third of the 60.7 percent willing to hire before the pandemic.