Major financial firms are poised to kick off massive recruiting in the latter half of this year, industry sources said Sunday, after allegations of illicit hiring caused many lenders to hold off offering jobs in the past.

According to the financial industry sources, the nation's four major banks -- KEB Hana Bank, Woori Bank, Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank -- are preparing to hire a large of number of junior employees for this year.

The hiring process had temporarily been frozen since late last year after banks have come under fire for giving undue favors or special treatment to job applicants with ties to top bank executives or top-tier customers in their recruitment processes.

Kookmin Bank is planning to hire 500 new employees this year, and Shinhan Bank is scheduled to recruit 750 employees, they said.

Woori Bank earlier announced it will employee 750 new workers in 2018, while Hana Bank is also reviewing a plan to expand the recruitment.

A combined number of newly hired employees by the four major lenders is expected to reach 2,250 this year, up from 1,825 last year, the sources said.

Hiring irregularities at some financial firms and state-run institutions are centered on suspicions that companies hired the children of influential officials and top executives in the financial and manufacturing sectors. This has been the subject of intense public criticism recently.

Following months of investigation by financial regulators, a coalition of local banks said it will adopt written tests for the recruitment process and hire outside experts for the interview process to stop the recurrence of such illicit hiring cases. (Yonhap)