South Korea's financial industry is likely to undergo a fresh wave of layoffs down the road as companies are poised to restructure operations and adopt a new wage system, industry sources said Sunday.
  

Standard Chartered Korea has announced a massive voluntary retirement program, with local banks and non-bank financial institutions set to cut jobs following their massive layoffs over the two years.
  

In 2013 and 2014, financial companies in Asia's fourth-largest economy eliminated a combined 8,400 jobs, according to the sources.
  

On Friday, Standard Chartered Korea announced it plans to receive applications for voluntary retirement for five days starting Monday, apparently as part of a global restructuring program by its London-based holding company, Standard Chartered PLC.
  

The bank did not specify the number of its employees eligible for the early retirement plan, but market watchers said nearly half of the bank's 5,600 employees here may be subject to it.
  

Early this month, the Standard Chartered group announced a plan to lay off some 15,000 workers globally. In the third quarter of this year, Standard Chartered Korea posted a net loss of 3.5 billion won ($3.03 million).
  

South Korea's leading lender KB Kookmin Bank is reportedly mulling a plan to carry out an early retirement program for employees who are subject to the so-called wage peak system.
  

The government-led wage peak system pushes the retirement age of workers back, giving them greater job security. The same people benefiting from this must accept lower wages just before retirement, with the money saved used to hire new employees.
  

In May, the lender shed more than 1,100 jobs through a voluntary retirement scheme.
  

Shinhan Bank, another major lender, plans to conduct a voluntary retirement program early next year after retiring 310 workers early at the start of this year, with Woori Bank poised to cut jobs.
  

In addition, insurance companies and credit card firms are poised to follow suit as part of their restructuring efforts, the sources said.
  

According to government data, the local financial industry had a combined work force of 291,273 as of the end of last year, down more than 8,400 workers from two years earlier. (Yonhap)