[Exclusive] NongHyup Bank to Hire 450 Employees in First Half of Next Year... Largest Scale Ever

32%↑ Compared to the First Half of This Year... Hiring 420 Branch Staff and 30 IT Personnel
Early Recruitment Conducted Due to Branch Staffing Shortages

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jin-ho] NH Nonghyup Bank will conduct a large-scale open recruitment of 450 new employees in the first half of next year. This is a 32% increase compared to the first half of this year and the largest number since Nonghyup Bank was launched in 2012. Considering that other commercial banks are reducing large-scale open recruitment and shifting to occasional hiring due to 'digital transformation,' this is an unusual move.

According to the financial sector on the 12th, Nonghyup Bank will announce the '2022 First Half Grade 6 New Employee Early Recruitment' on the 14th. The plan is to conduct a written exam in mid-January, interviews in February, and assign new hires to frontline branches by mid-March.

The recruitment will be divided into branches and IT fields. A total of 450 people will be hired, with 420 for branches and 30 for IT.

Nonghyup Bank usually announces recruitment for the first half of the year in early February, but this year it decided to proceed about two months earlier. The reason for the early recruitment decision is reportedly due to manpower shortages occurring at frontline branches.

In particular, the scale of Nonghyup Bank's recruitment in the first half of next year is the largest since its launch in 2012. Over the past 10 years, the bank's first-half recruitment scale ranged from 100 to 400 people. This year, 340 people were hired, but next year the number will increase by 32% compared to this year.

Even considering the entire banking sector, this is evaluated as a 'record-breaking level.' Nonghyup Bank's recruitment scale for the first half of next year amounts to about half of the total recruitment of the five major commercial banks this year. In fact, the total number of new hires at the five major commercial banks?KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH Nonghyup?this year is only about 1,000.

The financial sector points to the 'uniqueness' of Nonghyup Bank as the background for such large-scale recruitment. Since the purpose is to revitalize finance in rural areas, it is explained that unlike other commercial banks with low usage, Nonghyup Bank cannot actively consolidate or close branches.

According to statistics from the Financial Supervisory Service, Nonghyup Bank had 1,123 branches as of the first half of this year, a decrease of only 11 compared to a year ago. During the same period, other major banks closed between 20 and 64 branches. A financial sector official said, "Even if a branch is unprofitable or running at a loss, it is practically impossible to close it if it is a regional hub," adding, "The purpose of revitalizing regional finance can explain why Nonghyup Bank is conducting large-scale open recruitment."

Meanwhile, unlike Nonghyup Bank, other major banks are significantly reducing open recruitment and focusing actively on hiring digital and IT specialists and experienced professionals. This is attributed to the acceleration of digital transformation in banks, expansion of non-face-to-face services, and organizational efficiency improvements.

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