S. Korean banks to double hiring of high school graduates

SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korean lenders plan to double their hiring of high school graduates over the next three years as part of their efforts to boost employment conditions for those without university diplomas, a bank organization said Thursday. The country's 18 banks are set to flag around 12 percent of new openings, or 2,700 jobs, for high school graduates by 2013, the Korea Federation of Banks (KFB) said in an e-mailed statement. The envisioned plan is expected to almost double the hiring of high school graduates from the current level, which stood at around 6 percent between 2009-2010. In addition, the KFB said it plans to support high school graduates in their efforts to acquire university degrees and expand permanent positions for qualified employees. Bank employees with high school diplomas have generally been hired for temporary positions such as tellers or call center staff. The move comes after President Lee Myung-bak visited the Industrial Bank of Korea on Wednesday to meet new employees whose highest level of education is high school. "Educational backgrounds are not a big problem when one works in a field for 10 to 20 years. It's important to show one's capacity in that field," Lee said during the visit. Industry watchers said the visit was designed to push banks to hire more high school graduates. Lenders' hiring of high school graduates ceased in the aftermath of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, as they opted to hire employees with higher levels of education amid a decline in available jobs. South Korea has been beefing up its efforts to change the trend in a bid to put more focus on a person's ability rather than his or her academic achievement. Despite South Korea's large number of university graduates, industry officials have complained about the lack of an efficient workforce. The country's university entrance rate reached 79 percent in 2010, surpassing the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average of 56 percent.