“Not many are going to visit a bank teller when everything from account transfers to payments is possible with a smartphone.” (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Oct. 31 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of employees in the financial sector has declined in 16 consecutive months, mainly driven by the fast expanding usage of FinTech, lowering demand for conventional employees such as bank tellers.
According to a recent report from the Ministry of Employment & Labor, the number of employees in the financial sector, including banks and credit card companies, was 267,000 as of September, which was a drop of 2,000 from September 2015, and the 16th consecutive month since June 2015 (271,000) to see a decrease.
The number of new recruits in the sector also dropped significantly in 2016 (January to September) by roughly 4,000 compared to the same period last year.
The reduction in staff, however, was not driven by poor financial performance. The big four banks – Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Woori, and KEB – saw their net profits increase by 36.4 percent (Jan to Sept). Instead, officials say that the growing popularity of FinTech is allowing companies to hire fewer employees.
“Not many are going to visit a bank teller when everything from account transfers to payments is possible with a smartphone,” said an unnamed bank official. “(Bank) branches still have an excess of manpower.”
The finance sector was the fifth highest-paying industry with an average monthly wage (January to August 2016) of 5.57 million won ($4,868), which was also a 3.5 percent increase from the same period in 2015.
Meanwhile, the report revealed that the number of workers in shipbuilding and transport equipment manufacturing (for the 10th consecutive month as of September), and other makers of electronics parts, computer, video, audio, and communications devices (27th consecutive month) decreased as well.
In contrast, industry sectors that saw the biggest increase in the number of employees were health and welfare services (by 109,000), wholesale and retail (76,000), and science and technology services (44,000).
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
