Major banks are holding off their second-half employment notice, pressed between their financial need for downsizing and the Moon Jae-in administration‘s drive for job creation.

While the central bank and a partially state-controlled bank vowed to expand recruitment, most commercial banks prolonged their ambiguous silence, apparently reluctant to make pre-emptive moves.

The Bank of Korea said Tuesday that it will hire 70 new employees in the latter half of the year, increasing its recruitment by six from the previous year.
 
The central bank is also to hire 10 experienced experts in research, information technology, payment, and financial examination, as part of its plan to respond to industry changes.

After holding a hiring presentation on Thursday, the bank will receive applications by Sept. 7, carry out a written test and interviews in October-November. Final results are to be announced by the end of November.

Besides the central bank, however, few banks have so far confirmed their second-half recruitment plan. The conventional timeline for banks is to post their job openings in late July or early August and set to the implementation in late August, according to industry officials.

Of the commercial banks, only Woori Bank has made the announcement -- of hiring 600 new employees by the end of the year, including 400 bank clerks.

Other major players such as Shinhan Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, NongHyup and Industrial Bank of Korea are yet to post their plan.

“Having the government as one of its key shareholders, Woori Bank was under pressure to respond to the government policy (of job creation),” said an official of one of the leading banks.

“But in the case of other banks, it certainly is difficult to attain a balance between job creation and business downsizing.”

Observers pointed out that the majority of commercial banks may currently be waiting for one another to step out first and act as a litmus test for the government’s response.

“The banks are reluctant to make a bold move, lest the scale of their recruitment fail to meet the government’s expectations,” the official said.

Seeking to cut down expenses and to gear up for the “fourth industrial revolution” trend, banks have been reducing their offline branches and laying off senior officials over recent years.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)