'Recruitment Begins' Financial Public Enterprises Busy Preparing Countermeasures Amid COVID-19 Resurgence

"Schedule Delay Unavoidable if Social Distancing Raised to Level 3"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Financial public enterprises conducting new employee recruitment in the second half of the year are busy preparing countermeasures against COVID-19, which is showing signs of a second large wave.

According to the financial sector on the 20th, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) plans to identify information on test participants with a history of self-quarantine in advance through the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency ahead of the written exam scheduled for the 12th of next month. A separate test site will also be prepared for those with a fever in case they come to the test center.

The FSS, which is hiring a record number of 90 regular employees this year, is currently accepting applications from the 19th to the 28th of this month, making it difficult to postpone the scheduled written and interview exams. Accordingly, the FSS is looking for locations for the first written exam to strictly comply with the government's social distancing level 2 guidelines.

Originally, the plan was to hold the written exam in lecture rooms at Sejong University, but due to the resurgence of COVID-19 and to prevent many people from gathering in a confined space, they are changing to a venue with larger lecture rooms and more space. KDB Industrial Bank, which is holding the written exam on the same day as the FSS, is also preparing stronger quarantine measures than government guidelines by significantly reducing the number of people per classroom for the written exam.

The Korea Housing Finance Corporation, which planned to hire 60 people and completed document submission on the 16th of last month and the written exam on the 15th of this month, is now facing difficulties ahead of the first interview scheduled for September 1-3. They are considering changing the schedule and switching to non-face-to-face interviews if the COVID-19 situation worsens. A representative of the Housing Finance Corporation said, "We will decide the timing of the interview considering the COVID-19 spread trend and government guidelines," adding, "We are also reviewing the introduction of video interviews in case face-to-face interviews become difficult."

Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO), which plans to hire 69 people in the second half of the year, closed document submissions on the 31st of last month and plans to conduct the first interview from August 31 to September 4. The interview venue, the Talent Development Center in Asan, Chungcheongnam-do, is still a social distancing level 1 area, but they are determined to conduct the interviews in accordance with social distancing level 2 guidelines to thoroughly prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

All candidates must wear masks, and measures such as temperature checks, health questionnaires, use of hand sanitizers, minimizing overlapping movement routes, and maintaining a 2-meter distance will be enforced. However, considering the COVID-19 spread trend, there is also the possibility of postponing the interview schedule if the situation worsens. KAMCO stated, "We will unify the test center entrance to check candidates for fever and cough symptoms and will also disperse candidates when leaving to avoid crowding," adding, "If a COVID-19 case occurs among candidates, we will guide all candidates to monitor their health for 14 days."

The Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, which plans to hire 30 new employees this year, has just started the recruitment schedule. The KDIC, which is accepting applications until the 1st of next month, does not plan to postpone the written and interview exams at this stage, but will inevitably consider schedule changes if the social distancing guidelines are raised to level 3.

The Korea Credit Guarantee Fund also stated, "If the level is raised to 3, we may consider postponing the written exam according to detailed government guidelines or regulations on gatherings and events (prohibiting groups of 10 or more) at government agencies," adding, "We will continuously monitor the results of written exams conducted earlier by other public institutions (September 12th)."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.