Concerns are mounting that a possible relocation of Industrial Bank of Korea (024110) out of the capital region could affect jobs at the bank's service subsidiary, including cleaning and security staff working at its headquarters. Depending on how the new building is managed, existing work could shrink, prompting calls for employment measures covering subsidiary workers as well as bank employees.
A total of 231 IBK Service workers were assigned to the bank's Euljiro headquarters and Finance Tower as of the end of the first half, according to financial industry sources on the 25th. They include 72 cleaning staff, 72 security guards, 62 facility management workers, 23 kitchen staff and two administrative support workers.
IBK Service is a wholly owned subsidiary of Industrial Bank of Korea, established in December 2018 to convert non-regular public-sector workers into permanent employees. It handles cleaning, security and facility management at branches nationwide as well as at the bank's IT center and training institutes. Total headcount stood at 2,050 as of the end of the first half.
Neither the relocation itself nor the type of building at the new site has been decided. But if the bank moves into a leased building that already has a management company in place, IBK Service's scope of work could narrow.
Workers unable to relocate would need to be reassigned to other worksites. "If the headquarters moves, subsidiary employees whose lives are based in the Seoul metropolitan area could face difficulties continuing to work," an Industrial Bank of Korea official said.
Beyond the headquarters, IBK Service currently staffs a customer center in Hannam-dong, an IT center in Suji, a data center in Hanam and training institutes in Giheung and Chungju. Workers at branches nationwide number 607 in cleaning, 625 in security and 65 in facility management. Those sites already have staff, however, so absorbing headquarters workers would require weighing vacancies by job category, workload demand and commuting distance.
Separately, IBK Service is not among the subsidiaries targeted in a government plan to consolidate facility management units at state-run financial institutions. Last month the government merged five companies — KAMCO FMC, Yeul FMC, KDB Biz, Eximplus and Kodit Operations Management — into an entity tentatively named Policy Finance FMC, pledging to retain employment and working conditions.
Another issue is who should negotiate measures to protect those jobs. Employment contracts are signed with IBK Service, but the headquarters relocation and the volume of service contracts hinge on decisions by the parent bank. "Depending on how much actual authority the bank exercises over the employment and placement of subsidiary workers, questions could arise over its status as a primary employer and its responsibility to bargain," the Industrial Bank of Korea official said.