The combined net profit of South Korea's four major financial holding companies jumped to 11.34 trillion won ($8.01 billion) in the first half of this year, surpassing 11 trillion won for the first time on a half-year basis. Bank employees' average pay surged 13 percent — the largest increase in 13 years — and for the first time exceeded 70 million won, outpacing Samsung Electronics.
Average pay per employee at 4 major banks reaches 71.5 million won, topping Samsung Electronics
Average pay per employee at the four major commercial banks — KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank and Woori Bank — came to 71.5 million won in the first half of this year, according to financial industry data released Sunday.
The figure is a simple average of the per-employee pay each bank disclosed in its semiannual report. NH NongHyup Bank, an unlisted special-purpose bank, does not publicly disclose employee compensation.
The result marks a 12.6 percent increase from 63.5 million won in the first half of last year — the highest first-half growth rate since 2013, when pay rose 20.9 percent.
Male employees earned an average of 81 million won, outpacing their female counterparts at 64 million won by 26.6 percent.
If second-half pay holds at a similar level, the average annual salary for employees at the four banks would exceed 140 million won this year.
Among individual banks, Shinhan Bank posted the highest average pay at 75 million won and the steepest year-on-year increase at 21.0 percent. Woori Bank and Hana Bank each reached 71 million won, up 14.5 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.
KB Kookmin Bank reported average pay of 69 million won, up 11.3 percent.
Bank employees' pay exceeded the 63 million won average at Samsung Electronics — which posted record earnings on strong semiconductor exports — by 8.5 million won. It remained below the 144 million won average at SK Hynix, whose compensation jumped sharply this year partly due to gains from employee stock ownership.
Average pay at major financial holding companies was even higher, reaching the 100 million won range — well above bank-level compensation.
The gap reflects the nature of holding company operations: as control towers overseeing financial subsidiaries, they employ fewer staff while carrying a higher proportion of senior-level positions.
Average pay per employee at the five major financial holding companies — KB Financial Group, Shinhan, Hana, Woori Financial Group and NH NongHyup Financial — reached 100.8 million won in the first half of this year, up about 6.8 percent from 94.4 million won a year earlier.
It is the first time the five holding companies' combined first-half average pay has exceeded 100 million won since Woori Financial Group relaunched in 2019.
Male employees at the holding companies averaged 107.6 million won, outpacing female employees at 80.8 million won by 33.2 percent.
KB Financial Group reported the highest per-employee average pay at 121 million won. However, KB Financial disclosed that the figure includes a special bonus paid last year; excluding that, the adjusted figure stands at around 102 million won.
Woori Financial Group (110 million won) and Hana Financial Group (106 million won) also recorded per-employee pay in the nine-figure range, while Shinhan Financial Group came close at 97 million won. NH NongHyup Financial posted the lowest figure among the five at 70 million won.
Voluntary retirees take home packages worth over 1 billion won
Some employees who took voluntary early retirement walked away with compensation packages of around 1 billion won.
Hana Bank disclosed that it paid around 1.1 billion won each to five managerial-level employees who retired in the first half. Their base salary and bonuses each amounted to around 30 million won, but retirement income for all five exceeded 1 billion won.
Shinhan Bank paid four branch managers and equivalent-grade employees between 984 million won and 1.05 billion won each upon their departure. Special severance payments accounted for around 500 million won of each package.
Woori Bank paid five voluntary retirees at the senior manager level between 945 million won and 1.04 billion won each, while KB Kookmin Bank reported that all five of its voluntary retirees received compensation in the 900 million won range.
hanimomo@heraldcorp.com
