Banks have eliminated approximately 2,000 jobs, and hundreds of positions have disappeared from insurance and stock companies. (image: Kobizmedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, May 9 (Korea Bizwire) – More than 1,800 jobs vanished from the financial sector in 2015.
Financial institutions have downsized their workforces due to weakening profit margins and the increasing ubiquity of fintech and automated branches, which require fewer employees.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the number of employees at financial institutions dropped from 375,402 in 2014 to 373,609 in 2015. As this figure also takes new recruits into account, more than 1,800 workers are expected to have left their companies last year.
Banks have eliminated approximately 2,000 jobs, and hundreds of positions have disappeared from insurance and stock companies.
A total of 799 jobs from life insurance companies and 674 from property insurance companies have also disappeared. Stock companies and futures trading companies also downsized to the tune of 443 and 54 jobs respectively.
Due to prolonged low interest rates and declines in profit margins, financial companies are cutting jobs as their first choice option to reduce operation costs. The increased use of fintech services, which can lead to manpower savings, is another factor in job reduction.
By Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
