"Walked away with 1.4 billion won"...About 1,000 "100-million-won-a-year" bank employees quit annually

[The Financial News] The number of employees at Korea's four major commercial banks fell by around 1,000 in a single year. This comes even as the sector has entered an era of "100 million won annual salaries" for bank staff on the back of record profits, suggesting that digital transformation is rapidly driving workforce reductions.

According to the "2025 business reports" disclosed on the 28th by the four major commercial banks—KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank and Woori Bank—the total number of their employees at the end of last year stood at 54,210. This is a decrease of 1,021 from 55,231 a year earlier.
By bank, KB Kookmin Bank saw the largest reduction, with its headcount down by 538. It was followed by Shinhan Bank (down 302), Woori Bank (down 126) and Hana Bank (down 55).
This restructuring of the workforce is widely attributed to the spread of non-face-to-face and digital finance. As mobile banking becomes the main sales channel, branches are being merged or closed, leading banks to gradually scale back new hiring while carrying out large-scale voluntary retirement programs every year.
In fact, the number of domestic branches operated by the four banks totaled 2,685 at the end of last year, down 94 from 2,779 a year earlier. New hires also declined to about 1,280, roughly 100 fewer than the previous year's 1,380. Around 2,000 employees leave the banks each year through voluntary retirement: 2,392 in 2023, 1,987 in 2024, and 2,364 last year.

To accelerate staff reductions, banks have offered exceptionally generous retirement packages, drawing public attention. Some voluntary retirees even received more compensation than sitting bank CEOs.
The reports note that most of the top five earners in total compensation were retirees who received several hundred million won in severance pay settled in a lump sum.
At KB Kookmin Bank, four vice president-level executives retired and received between about 979 million won and 1.451 billion won each, including bonuses, base salary and retirement benefits. At Hana Bank, a manager-level retiree ranked first in total compensation, taking home up to 1.122 billion won, including severance pay of up to about 1.06 billion won.
At Woori Bank, five deputy general manager-level retirees received between roughly 900 million and 996 million won each, including retirement income of 800 million to 900 million won. Their packages exceeded the 851 million won annual salary of current CEO Jin Wan Jung.
At Shinhan Bank, CEO Jung Sang-hyuk topped the pay list with 1.57 billion won in total compensation. However, four retirees who had served as branch managers and in similar posts also ranked near the top, each receiving between about 912 million and 936 million won, including severance pay in the 700 million to 800 million won range.
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter