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| gettyimagesbank |
Jobseekers will have to undergo a cutthroat competition to enter securities companies in the latter half of 2019 as most firms plan to reduce the number of new employees due to a weaker-than-expected performance amid a stagnant stock market, industry officials said Sunday.
While their performance in the first six months was largely in line with market consensus, most of them are bracing for a far worse situation in the latter half given reductions in fees for asset management and stock trading over the past few months.
Korea Financial Investment Association data showed the nation's 50 brokerages posted 1.7 trillion won ($1.4 billion) in brokerage fees in the January to June period, a 34.9 percent drop from 2.6 trillion won the year before.
Investment sentiment since July has turned sour due to uncertainties triggered by the Korea-Japan trade feud, which also poses a considerable risk on the brokerages' investment banking prospects, their major source of profit.
Only around 300 jobs will be available at the country's top 10 brokerages, with about half of them yet to have finalized their hiring plan.
This is in contrast to up to 540 new positions offered by the 10 firms in 2018.
Mirae Asset Daewoo and Samsung Securities are expected to hire around 60 and 70 new workers, respectively, while KB Securities will employ fewer than 50.
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Those that have yet to decide on hiring are NH Investment & Securities, Hana Investment & Securities, Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) investment and Securities, SK Securities and Kiwoom Securities.
Meritz Securities, Hanwha Investment & Securities and Eugene Investment said they will not hire any new workers this year.
Mirae Asset Daewoo plans to limit the number of new hires to 200, significantly lower than 250 last year.
Given more than half, or 110 people, landed the jobs there in the January-June period and 30 people are on a waiting list following interviews, about 60 positions are left by the end of 2019.
Hiring procedures have begun at KB Securities, with candidates selected for interviews to be individually contacted before November.
The firm hired 47 new workers in 2018, but the number will be smaller this year.
The collective corporate move against increasing labor costs is an inevitable result from the combination of negatives concerning the business environment, according to an industry official who refused to be identified.
"Investment sentiment has largely waned due to U.S-China dispute which is continuing with ups and downs for over a year. Worse yet, the fresh uncertainty involving Japan's export restrictions will have bigger consequences as it directly affects the country's core semiconductor industry," he said.
The investment banking business, once considered a major source of sharp growth, also remains stagnant amid uncertainties, he added.
"In the recent global environment, investors are increasingly shunning risky bets ― an inevitable component of an investment banking portfolio ― and instead favor safe assets. Taking risks at this moment does not seem a popular choice."
