On November 20, Standard Chartered Korea announced its plan to receive applications for voluntary redundancy for five days starting Monday November 23.
Standard Chartered Korea had laid off roughly 800 employees through an early retirement program in 2011 and about 200 employees in a voluntary retirement program last year.
The eligibility criteria for this year’s voluntary retirement program have widened compared to last year’s voluntary retirement scheme which was open to employees aged 45 and older and with at least 15 years on the job. Market watchers say that approximately 2,500 employees, 45 percent of the bank's 5,600 employees, are eligible for the recent voluntary retirement program.
“If it is an inevitable step as part of a global restructuring program by the London-based holding company, Standard Chartered PLC, we demand that the company offer its employees proper compensation and forward-looking options,” said a member of Standard Chartered Korea’s labor union.
Early this month, the Standard Chartered group announced a plan to axe 15,000 jobs from its total workforce of 86,000 by 2018.
