The heads of three major financial groups in South Korea announced plans Thursday to voluntarily cut their salaries and use the saved money to expand hiring.
  

"The chairmen of Shinhan Financial Group, Hana Financial Group and KB Financial Group decided to hand in 30 percent of their annual income to show their responsibility as chief executive officers," the banking groups said in a joint statement.
  

The financial groups didn't disclose how much their chairmen are paid annually.
  

The money will be used to "contribute to expanding employment of interns, new hires and experienced hires," they said, without specifying a schedule or the scope of the plan.
  

The move is seen as part of efforts to support the government's policy drive to reform the labor market and improve job opportunities for fresh graduates.
 
 
Seoul has been underscoring the need to make the labor market more flexible. As part of the plan, it has adopted wage peak systems at state-run firms and encouraged private sector companies to follow suit.
  

Job market conditions remain bleak for the younger generation amid the country's prolonged economic slump.
  

The jobless rate among people between the ages of 15 and 29 reached 9.4 percent in July, far exceeding the headline rate of 3.7 percent. There were 410,000 unemployed people between the ages of 20 and 29 in the January-June period, the highest level since the government has been compiling relevant data. The previous record was 402,500 in the first half of 2000. (Yonhap)