Third New Graduate Recruitment This Year... What's Happening at KB Sonbo?

Over 100 Employees Leave in June Voluntary Retirement
Ongoing Demands for Workforce Reinforcement

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] KB Insurance is conducting its third open recruitment for new employees this year. While most financial companies typically hold open recruitment in the first and second halves of the year, and some insurance companies have not conducted open recruitment at all due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is highly unusual.

According to the insurance industry on the 5th, KB Insurance is recruiting for the second half of the year’s second round of new employees from the 1st to the 14th of this month. The recruitment fields include sales management, claims handling, digital and data, product and actuarial, accounting and asset management, and legal positions, with the number of recruits in the double digits.

Applicants who can start normal work from the end of next month can apply regardless of gender, age, or educational background. After document screening and written tests, first and second interviews will be conducted next month, followed by the announcement of the final successful candidates.

Although this is a typical recruitment announcement, what draws attention is that KB Insurance has already held two rounds of open recruitment this year. KB Insurance conducted open recruitment in the first half of the year in February and again in June for the second half. This is the third recruitment.

Since both previous recruitments were successfully conducted with many applicants, the insurance industry is focusing on the voluntary retirement program conducted in June as the reason for the consecutive recruitment of new employees.

KB Insurance implemented a voluntary retirement program for the first time in two years since 2019. The eligibility was significantly expanded compared to other insurance companies, including those aged 45 or older with more than 20 years of service, those with more than 15 years of service born before 1983 (38 years old), and those entering or scheduled to enter the wage peak system. The benefits were also considered exceptional, offering up to 36 months’ salary as special retirement pay and providing job transition support funds of 24 million KRW.

Ultimately, about 100 employees left the company, completing KB Insurance’s restructuring. As a result, the number of KB Insurance employees, which reached 3,324 in 2018, decreased by about 200 to 3,098 as of the end of June.

However, after the voluntary retirement, it is reported that both the labor union and internal staff continuously demanded additional manpower from the company. As the overall workforce aged, there was growing criticism that voluntary retirement without new recruitment only resulted in a ‘half’ improvement in the workforce structure. This recruitment is interpreted as reflecting such demands.

As a result of this organizational improvement, KB Insurance has succeeded in reversing its performance since CEO Kim Ki-hwan’s inauguration this year. The cumulative net profit up to the third quarter was 269 billion KRW, a 44.3% increase compared to the same period last year. Expectations are rising that the net profit decline trend, which continued for three consecutive years from 2017 to last year, will come to an end.

A KB Insurance official said, "There is recruitment demand in each sector such as digital transformation and new business ventures, so we decided to proceed," adding, "We plan to focus on securing new growth engines."

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