Hopeful Retirement Office
Most wage peak system
Deepening internal personnel backlog
Recently, as the four major commercial banks are receiving applications for voluntary retirement, the employees of state-owned banks such as Industrial Bank of Korea, Industrial Bank of Korea, and Export-Import Bank of Korea are looking at them bitterly.
It is the same bank, but unlike commercial banks, which receive hundreds of millions of won in consolation money for voluntary retirement, government-owned banks cannot help but feel a sense of relative deprivation because they do not receive such compensation.
According to the banking industry on the 4th, up to 3,000 employees at the four major banks — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, and Hana Bank — are expected to seek voluntary retirement at the end of this month. Such a large-scale voluntary retirement is possible because the bank pays generous compensation.
Hana Bank receives an average wage of up to 24 to 36 months depending on position and age. Students born between 1968 and 1970 are also provided with tuition, medical expenses, and subsidies for re-employment and job change. In 2021, bank employees who received an ERP of over 800 million won also appeared and became a hot topic.
However, government-owned banks cannot make such an ERP payment. In 2015, following the Board of Audit and Inspection pointed out that the amount of ERP payments by government-run banks was excessive, regulations were strengthened, such as setting 45% of annual salary as the standard salary. From the following year, the voluntary retirement system became virtually useless.
In the case of Industrial Bank of Korea, there is a semi-retirement age system, but the majority of them choose the wage peak system because of the low severance pay.
The problem is that internal personnel backlogs are deepening as a result. In the case of Industrial Bank of Korea, as of June last year, the number of employees under the wage peak system stood at 997, accounting for 7.3% of the total number of employees.
A government-owned bank official said, “Commercial banks are reducing personnel to increase efficiency within the organization while undergoing digital transformation, but the national bank organization is aging.” Government-owned bank labor and management have been asking the government to improve the early retirement system, but this has not been done for several years.
Related content was also mentioned at the inauguration ceremony for the new IBK president, Kim Seong-tae, on the 3rd. President Kim reserved his words, saying, “I will continue to consult (with the Ministry of Finance and Economy) because it is not something that can be done on its own.” It is said that CEO Kim will have a heavier burden on his shoulders, especially since he is an insider for the first time in three years, and the expectations he receives from the organization are high.
Reporter Song Soo-yeon
