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The government's announcement of the second road map for relocating public institutions to provinces is expected next month, sparking controversy over the possibility of state-run banks such as the Korea Development Bank, IBK Industrial Bank, and Export-Import Bank of Korea. Labor unions of the three major state-run banks held a joint rally for the first time in their history on the 11th, before the government's specific relocation plan came out.

One of the problems that financial unions are concerned about is the departure of key personnel. If the headquarters is moved to the provinces, it is unclear whether employees based in Seoul will continue to work in a situation where it is difficult for them to move with their families.

In fact, there are voices among employees of state-run banks that are more concerned about how to maintain the family's living base than the previous one itself.

A, who works for a state-run bank, told a reporter on the 13th, "I am not currently thinking about going down with the company when it says it will move," adding, "My spouse is also working and has a house in Seoul, but it is not easy to live in the local area under the current real estate system." It's the easiest way for me to change jobs," he said.

B, who works at the same bank, said, "It's not that I hate going down to the countryside itself. It is a problem that the foundation of life moves together, he said. "If the company tells individual employees to take care of themselves, we expect the number of turnover to increase significantly. "If it goes down, we will have to see how much support will be provided," he said.

The Korea Development Bank's labor union also cites employees' family problems as a major variable. Lee Jae-ik, vice chairman of the Korea Development Bank of the Korea Financial Industry Workers' Union, said, "In the case of the Korea Development Bank, more than half of all employees, or nearly 60% of them, are married employees and most of them are dual-income," adding, "I think the migration rate will be low because it is not easy to move, especially if the spouse is working."

In fact, a number of manpower departures continued for about two and a half years from 2022 to the first half of 2024, when the Korea Development Bank's discussion on relocating to Busan began in earnest. According to the Korea Development Bank's labor union, about 250 voluntary resignations, excluding retirement at the retirement age, exceeded 10% based on about 2,200 union members.

The union explained that many employees with professional work experience such as venture investment and project financing (PF) left the company.

However, some point out that it is difficult to conclude that relocation to the provinces immediately leads to large-scale manpower loss. This is because a large number of employees actually settled in the relocation area at the time of the first relocation of public institutions to the provinces.

According to the data submitted by Chung Hee-yong, a member of the People's Power, from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 48,128 people moved to the provinces due to the relocation of the first public institution as of June this year, of which 34,214 people actually moved to the area, accounting for 71.1% of the total.

In particular, Busan's employee migration rate was 86.4%, the highest in the country. Jeju was followed by 82.4% in Jeju, 77.8% in Jeonbuk, and 76.3% in Gwangju and Jeonnam. The family migration rate was also the highest in Busan at 81.4%, followed by Jeju at 73.0%, Jeonbuk at 72.1%, and Gwangju and Jeonnam at 65.0%.

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However, it is pointed out that it is difficult to apply such figures to national banks as they are. Unlike general public institutions, state-run banks are closely connected with various financial market participants such as companies, financial companies, securities companies, accounting firms, law firms, and financial authorities.

In the case of the Korea Development Bank, there are many contacts with the Seoul financial market in the process of carrying out large corporation finance, corporate restructuring, and investment banking (IB) work. The Industrial Bank of Korea focuses on finance for small and medium-sized companies, and the Export-Import Bank of Korea is in charge of export finance and overseas business finance. As all three organizations perform tasks closely with corporate financing, the location of the headquarters can affect not only the lives of employees but also the way they work.

An office market official said, "The difference between employees of public institutions in the process of moving to the provinces should not be seen simply by the size or composition of employees of the previous institution," adding, "The settlement conditions such as housing, education, medical care, transportation, and culture acted as variables evenly."

"We should consider not only the work environment in which the physical distance between the financial market and policy financial institutions is increasing, but also the establishment of infrastructure and support for settlement of employees in real life," he said.

Meanwhile, the financial union held a vote on the issue of a 4.5-day week, wages, and relocation to the provinces on the 12th, and it was confirmed that it was approved with a 96 percent approval rate.

Vice Chairman Lee said, "As it is a vote involving all 43 branches of the financial union, we will first watch industrial and representative negotiations," adding, "If there is no significant progress in negotiations on wages, 4.5-day weeks, or relocation of the headquarters, we can go on strike, but we will consider separate responses at the branch level once the government announces further."