Seoul, Dec. 18 (BNA): Five major South Korean banks offered a voluntary retirement program to their 2,400 employees this year despite posting record profits amid rising interest rates, industry sources said Sunday.
Voluntary retirement plans are accelerating at the five lenders — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana and NH Nonghyup — as more people turn to offline financial transactions due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, according to South Korean News Agency (Yonhap).
An industry official said those who apply for the program will receive years of their stipend, which amounts to between 400 million and 500 million won (305,000 to 380,000 U.S. dollars) depending on position, children’s educational expenses and other benefits.
In the overall banking industry, at least 3,000 workers are expected to quit through the retirement program this year.
Last year, more than 5,000 employees accepted the retirement program in the banking sector, including 2,100 employees of Citibank Korea Inc. , the Korean unit of the US banking giant Citigroup, as it decided to close its retail banking services.
The number of bank branch closures continued from 74 in 2018, 94 in 2019, 216 in 2020, 209 in 2021 and 179 this year through August, according to the FSA.
ZHB