Banks paying W8.5m more than Samsung — but who are they actually hiring?

South Korea's major banks, where average monthly pay exceeds 10 million won ($7,360), are ramping up second-half hiring. A growing number of lenders are opening dedicated recruitment tracks not only for core banking roles such as corporate finance and asset management, but also for specialists in AI, digital technology, cybersecurity, accounting and law — a sign that job-specific expertise is becoming the defining criterion in bank hiring.

KB Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank and NH NongHyup Bank have all launched second-half recruitment, seeking candidates with professional licenses and specialized skills in areas including AI, digital and security through separate hiring categories, according to financial industry sources Saturday.

KB Kookmin Bank plans to hire roughly 180 people in total — about 160 new recruits and about 20 experienced hires. New recruits will be selected across six tracks: Universal Banker (UB), discharged officers, professional license holders, ICT, specialized high school graduates and ESG co-growth.

The professional license track targets certified public accountants. The ICT track is divided into IT and AI/platform development, with candidates assessed on relevant technical competencies. The UB track is split into corporate client finance, customer asset management and regional talent, with at least 25 percent of all UB hires to come from regional talent pools.

Woori Bank has added a new "specialist" track for this year's second-half recruitment, on top of its existing corporate banking, retail banking, tech and global categories. The bank will separately recruit holders of professional licenses — including lawyers, certified public accountants and tax accountants — as well as interpretation specialists. Its tech track will also seek candidates with expertise in information security and financial cybersecurity, not just IT development skills.

NH NongHyup Bank announced Friday that it would hire roughly 120 Grade-5 entry-level employees. Recruitment is divided into finance and specialist fields, with the specialist category targeting candidates in accounting, security, AI and digital. The bank plans to evaluate applicants primarily on job competency and expertise, then assign them directly to relevant roles.

"In the finance track, we will select future core talent to drive sustained growth in our core banking business; in the specialist track, we will hire people with both theoretical expertise and hands-on skills in accounting, security and AI, and deploy them to the field immediately," NH NongHyup Bank President Kang Tae-young said.

Hana Bank began open recruitment Thursday for second-half new hires across its general banking, regional talent and discharged-officer tracks, though it did not disclose the total number of positions. Shinhan Bank plans to post its second-half hiring notice later this month, and the specific headcount has yet to be finalized.

Even as banks compete for specialists, their overall new-hire numbers continue to shrink. Combined new hires at the four major banks — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana and Woori — fell from about 1,880 in 2023 to about 1,380 in 2024 and roughly 1,280 last year, a drop of about 600 people, or 31.9 percent, over two years. In the first half of this year, the four banks hired about 540 people, down 55, or 9.2 percent, from 595 in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, pay for existing bank employees is rising even as hiring volumes shrink. According to the four banks' semiannual reports, average pay per employee in the first half of this year reached 71.5 million won, up 8 million won, or 12.6 percent, from 63.5 million won in the same period last year. Dividing the first-half figure by six gives a simple monthly average of roughly 11.9 million won — 8.5 million won more than the 63 million won Samsung Electronics paid its employees on average in the first half of this year.