Bank employment rate rises despite low profit

South Korean banks’ employment rate is expected to jump nearly 19 percent from last year, largely driven by the government’s job creation policies, data showed Tuesday.

Five major local banks are planning to hire a total of 1,080 people in the second half of this year, up 18.68 percent from 910 people in the same period in 2013.

KB Kookmin Bank is set to hire the most, with 290 new hires, followed by Woori Bank’s 250, Shinhan Bank’s 200, Industrial Bank of Korea’s 200 and NongHyup Bank’s 140.

Experts said the trend as partly due to the government’s push to raise the country’s employment rate to 70 percent by 2017.

“We increased the employment rate to prepare for a possible structural change in the future, and this has lowered the overall competition,” a Kookmin Bank official said.

(monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)