"Severance Pay Up to 1.1 Billion Won"... Banks Eyeing Early Retirement Season [1mm Geumyung Talk]

NongHyup and SuHyup Banks Conduct Voluntary Retirement This Month
New Hiring Effective but
Under Pressure from Authorities, Cautious Moves

The voluntary retirement season is approaching in the banking sector. Recently, the number of young employees preparing for their second act in life by receiving special retirement bonuses worth hundreds of millions of won has increased, but this year, pressure for mutual growth toward banks has emerged as a variable. Voluntary retirement is a necessary system for new hiring, but the atmosphere is cautious as the scale is being reduced.

According to the financial sector on the 28th, NH Nonghyup Bank accepted voluntary retirement applications from the 21st to the 23rd. The target was employees aged 40 to 56 with more than 10 years of service at all ranks, and special retirement bonuses were paid at 20 months' worth of average monthly wages, with 28 months' worth paid to the main target group aged 56.

Sh Suhyup Bank also accepted voluntary retirement applications from the 7th to the 14th. For grade 1 and above, employees with 18 years of service, and for grade 2 and below, employees with 15 years or more were eligible. The special retirement bonus for those born between 1967 and 1969 was about 85% of total labor costs due to the introduction of the wage peak system. For those born in 1968, 50% of the non-wage peak period was added, and for those born in 1969, 37.5% of the non-wage peak period was added. For other employees, the bonus was 20 months' worth of average monthly wages.

Shinhan Bank conducted voluntary retirement in January and August this year. Hana Bank conducts 'quasi-retirement special retirement' twice a year for employees aged 40 and above, and this year it was held twice in January and July. In particular, Shinhan Bank selected employees with more than 15 years of service at all ranks and those born before 1983 as eligible in the second half of this year, allowing voluntary retirement up to age 39. Since banks recorded record-breaking performance, it seems that the demands of young employees waiting for voluntary retirement recently, saying "Let's leave while conditions are good," were also reflected.

KB Kookmin Bank and Woori Bank are also expected to accept voluntary retirement applications next month. Last year, KB Kookmin Bank accepted applications from those born between 1967 and 1972, and Woori Bank targeted those born between 1967 and 1980. Considering that voluntary retirement applications have been accepted every year, it is expected that similar procedures will be followed this year.

As banks pay special retirement bonuses worth hundreds of millions of won every year during voluntary retirement, retirees rank among the top 5 annual salaries at each bank every year. According to the 'Bank Management Status Disclosure Report' released by the Korea Federation of Banks, the average special retirement bonus per person at the five major banks was 355.48 million won as of last year.

The special retirement bonus per person was in the order of Hana Bank (407.94 million won), KB Kookmin Bank (376 million won), Woori Bank (372.36 million won), NH Nonghyup (327.12 million won), and Shinhan Bank (293.96 million won). In particular, as of the first half of this year, there was a case at Hana Bank where the retirement income of a manager-level employee who took voluntary retirement reached 1.103 billion won, combining general retirement pay and special retirement bonuses.

However, there is a particularly cautious atmosphere regarding voluntary retirement at the end of this year. Since banks have recorded record-breaking performance and are under pressure for mutual growth, if a retirement bonus feast worth hundreds of millions of won occurs, there is a possibility of public backlash. In fact, NH Nonghyup Bank reportedly reduced the scale of special retirement bonuses compared to the previous year (up to 39 months of the highest average monthly wage), resulting in fewer applicants than last year. A representative from a commercial bank said, "As this atmosphere forms, other banks will have no choice but to reduce the scale of voluntary retirement as well."

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