Kookmin Bank plans 10% cut in workforce

Kookmin Bank plans 10% cut in workforce

SEOUL: South Korea's largest lender Kookmin Bank plans to
reduce its 28,000-strong workforce by up to 10 percent in
restructuring, bank officials said on Sunday.

Talks were under way on the proposed lay-off of up to 2,800
employees, Kookmin Bank officials said.

"Management and labor are discussing lay-off as banking
analysts have recommended Kookmin Bank to cut its manpower by 10
percent to be reborn as an efficient bank," spokesman Lee Ok-won
said. "So, up to 2,800 staff are subject to the proposed lay-
offs."

Kookmin has some 28,000 employees -- 18,000 working full-time
and 10,000 working on temporary contracts, according to Lee.

But the bank official rejected a news report that 4,800
Kookmin Bank employees would be laid off. "It is simply
exaggerated," he said.

Kookmin, which became the country's largest bank after merging
with now-defunct Housing and Commercial Bank of Korea in 2001,
has faced tougher competition from expanding foreign lenders. --
AFP