More young people leave once-sought-after jobs at financial institutions – Beragampengetahuan

Employees of the Bank of Korea (BOK) take a break in the lobby of the bank’s central Seoul headquarters in this April 2023 photo. Joint Press Corps

By Yi Whan-woo

Young finance sector workers in their 20s and 30s are quitting their traditionally-coveted jobs at the Bank of Korea (BOK), the Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) at an increasing pace, according to industry officials, Friday.

Their departure is mainly attributed to lower salaries compared to those paid by private firms — something they find dissatisfactory considering they are among the most capable people in the industry and expect remuneration commensurate to their skills.

Young workers are also leaving because they are apparently discouraged by the bureaucratic corporate culture that makes it tough for them to move up the ladder faster, as well as the uncreative work environments that no longer suit the rapidly-evolving digital finance industry.

According to BOK data obtained by Rep. Hong Sung-kook of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, Friday, 22 BOK employees in their 20s and 30s quit their jobs in 2023.

The number accounted for 57.8 percent of all 33 BOK workers who quit in the same year before reaching the mandated retirement age of 60.

In 2013, only nine or 37.5 percent of 24 bank employees who quit were in their 20s or 30s.

From 2021 to 2023, 62 workers in their 20s and 30s left, up 2.5 times from the 24 tallied in the 2011-13 period.

“The central bank and other government-related financial institutions are where the country’s best and brightest talents should be flocking, in the interest of the nation, but unfortunately, it does not seem to be the case any longer,” Hong said, referring to separate data he also obtained from KDB and FSS.

The KDB is a wholly-state owned lender. The FSS, the country’s top financial watchdog, is a private entity but is directed by the Financial Services Commission, a government body.

A total of 57 workers in their 20s and 30s left the KDB in 2022 and another 57 in 2023, marking a steep increase from 18 in 2013.

The number also remained between 16 and 26 from 2014 to 2021.

The FSS saw a steady increase in young workers’ departure, although the case was less extreme than the BOK and the KDB — 13 workers in 2023, compared to four in 2021 and 12 in 2022.

“The less favorable work conditions and noticeably unsatisfactory salary, are pushing the highly-skilled young workers to quit in search of higher-paid jobs,” Hong said.

He noted the average yearly salary in 2022 amounted to 103.31 million won ($77,400) at the BOK, 104.32 million won at the KDB and 110.07 million won at the FSS.

In the same year, several commercial banks paid much higher yearly salaries. For instance, internet-only Kakao Bank paid an average of 135.79 million won, while Hana Bank and KB Kookmin Bank paid 114.59 million won and 113.69 million won, respectively.

On condition of anonymity, an industry source said young workers at BOK, the KDB and the FSS are “further frustrated by a bureaucratic organizational culture that hinders skilled workers from being promoted faster.”

“Plus, the lower level workers do not have sufficient chance to have their voices heard under such culture where top-down decision-making process dominates,” the source said.

The source noted that, in the case of KDB, the government’s push to move the bank’s headquarters from Seoul to Busan is pushing some married young workers to leave for reasons concerning access of services related to raising their children.