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Hana Financial Group expands eligibility, support for internship program participants

Published: 18 May. 2025, 15:42 Updated: 18 May. 2025, 16:15

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

Hana Financial Group Chairman and CEO Ham Young-joo third from front right, poses during the company's 2025 Power On Social Venture at its headquarters in central Seoul on May 16. [HANA FINANCIAL GROUP]

Hana Financial Group has launched its 2025 internship program connecting job seekers from marginalized groups including seniors and youth with social ventures, expanding both eligibility and support to boost employment, the company announced Sunday.

Hana Financial Group held a launch event for its 2025 Power on Social Venture program on Friday at its headquarters in central Seoul, with its program aiming to link job seekers with social innovation enterprises.

More than 100 participants attended the event, including Hana Financial Group Chairman and CEO Ham Young-joo, Vice Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Min-seok, Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency President Jeong Seung-guk, social venture leaders and incoming interns.

The ceremony featured an introduction to the 2025 internship program, video messages from former interns who transitioned into full-time positions and pledges from new interns. Exhibition booths showcased participating companies and their products.

“I hope this internship program helps job seekers discover their ‘my job’ today and build their ‘tomorrow’ through it,” Ham said. “Hana Financial Group will continue to lead efforts so that job seekers and social innovation companies can grow together.”

Through the revamped internship program, Hana plans to expand participation and enhance support systems, providing tailored experiences for both companies and interns.

This year's program widened its eligibility to include “new seniors” — people in their 50s and 60s — in addition to youth, people with disabilities and career-interrupted women.

The group said it wants to offer work experience opportunities to middle-aged individuals seeking reemployment.

Interns will also receive enhanced support beyond monthly salaries, which includes up to 300,000 won ($220) in monthly benefits: 150,000 won for personalized growth such as certifications, mentoring or health care, 100,000 won for self-improvement if the intern is from a small business-owning family and 300,000 won in child education subsidies for women with multiple children.

Hana Financial Group Chairman and CEO Ham Young-joo third from right, poses during the company's 2025 Power On Social Venture at its headquarters in central Seoul on May 16. [HANA FINANCIAL GROUP]

Hana will also provide group training sessions once a month and up to two tailored special lectures each month.

For participating social ventures, Hana will subsidize three months of intern wages and provide an additional two months of salary support if the intern is hired full-time.

Since launching the program in 2018, Hana has scaled it significantly.

From 2022 to 2024, the group matched 705 job seekers with 705 social ventures for internships. Hana plans to connect another 230 job seekers with companies this year.

Out of the 270 interns who took part in last year’s program, 187 — or 69.2 percent — transitioned into full-time roles.

A total of 193 companies, or 71.4 percent of last year’s participants, reapplied for this year’s program, indicating high satisfaction from both sides.

Hana’s internship program was recognized in November 2024 by the Ministry of Employment and Labor with a ministerial award at the Social Enterprise Day ceremony for its contribution to fostering social enterprises and generating employment.

The group also operates several other job creation initiatives.

These include “Hana Social Venture University,” a program run with 30 partner universities to foster young entrepreneurs, the “Hana ESG Double Impact Matching Fund” to support startups with job creation potential and environmentally friendly technologies and “Hana Power on Second Life,” which helps older professionals to re-enter the work force.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]