By Kim Bo-eun
Consumer goods and IT companies, and foreign financial firms all had superior scores regarding gender equality, according to ratings by corporate tracker CEO Score and Women in Innovation, a corporate body fostering female leaders.
Korea's top 500 companies were rated in terms of gender ratios in employment and executives, pay discrepancies, and on programs fostering female employees.
The top 10 were: Naver, Amorepacific, Youngone Corporation, Kakao, Citibank Korea, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Hansae Fashion Worldwide, CJ CGV, LF and Standard Chartered Bank Korea.
Consumer goods companies accounted for four of the top 10 spots, followed by services industry firms with three.
Women made up 25 percent or more of mid- and senior-level managerial positions at these companies. They also had mentoring programs to foster female executives, or a committee to organize events for female employees.
The companies also had superior welfare benefits regarding childbirth and childcare leave.
At IT giant Naver, women stayed with the company for an average of 6.4 years, compared with men at 5.7 years.
The cosmetics conglomerate Amorepacific showed superior scores in the female employment ratio and at the executive level.
Given the sector, female employees accounted for 67 percent of the total. Among executives, 32.7 percent were women.
Youngone Corporation, an outdoor apparel manufacturer, received top scores for the gender ratio in employment and at executive and senior managerial levels.
Female employees accounted for over 75 percent of the total, while women made up 38.5 percent of executives.
Naver's rival Kakao also received a top score in the female executive ratio ― 40 percent. Its female employees spent an average of five years with the company ― the same as men.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical showed a 28.1 percent female ratio at the executive level. Female employees received an annual average salary of 59 million won, which was 80.8 percent of male employees' average pay.
Hansae Fashion Worldwide, another apparel maker, received top scores for female ratios at the executive and senior management level.
CJ CGV, CJ Group's cinema chain, also showed an equal gender ratio at the senior management level, while female employees' average annual salary was 42 million won, 79.2 percent of the male average.
Another apparel manufacturer, LF, had more female executives (52 percent) than male executives. The average annual female salary was 66 million won ― 79.5 percent of the male average.
"High ratios of female employees at consumer goods conglomerates can be attributed to superior welfare benefits," a senior executive at a consumer goods conglomerate said. "These can attract women at entry level and also encourage them to stay."
Citibank and SC Bank showed high ratios of women at the executive level, while female employees accounted for 59 percent of workers at SC Bank.
"Women may prefer to work at foreign banks because the culture differs from that of local foreign firms, which tend to be conservative," a former foreign financial firm executive said.
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Consumer goods and IT companies, and foreign financial firms all had superior scores regarding gender equality, according to ratings by corporate tracker CEO Score and Women in Innovation, a corporate body fostering female leaders.
Korea's top 500 companies were rated in terms of gender ratios in employment and executives, pay discrepancies, and on programs fostering female employees.
The top 10 were: Naver, Amorepacific, Youngone Corporation, Kakao, Citibank Korea, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Hansae Fashion Worldwide, CJ CGV, LF and Standard Chartered Bank Korea.
Consumer goods companies accounted for four of the top 10 spots, followed by services industry firms with three.
Women made up 25 percent or more of mid- and senior-level managerial positions at these companies. They also had mentoring programs to foster female executives, or a committee to organize events for female employees.
The companies also had superior welfare benefits regarding childbirth and childcare leave.
At IT giant Naver, women stayed with the company for an average of 6.4 years, compared with men at 5.7 years.
The cosmetics conglomerate Amorepacific showed superior scores in the female employment ratio and at the executive level.
Given the sector, female employees accounted for 67 percent of the total. Among executives, 32.7 percent were women.
Youngone Corporation, an outdoor apparel manufacturer, received top scores for the gender ratio in employment and at executive and senior managerial levels.
Female employees accounted for over 75 percent of the total, while women made up 38.5 percent of executives.
Naver's rival Kakao also received a top score in the female executive ratio ― 40 percent. Its female employees spent an average of five years with the company ― the same as men.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical showed a 28.1 percent female ratio at the executive level. Female employees received an annual average salary of 59 million won, which was 80.8 percent of male employees' average pay.
Hansae Fashion Worldwide, another apparel maker, received top scores for female ratios at the executive and senior management level.
CJ CGV, CJ Group's cinema chain, also showed an equal gender ratio at the senior management level, while female employees' average annual salary was 42 million won, 79.2 percent of the male average.
Another apparel manufacturer, LF, had more female executives (52 percent) than male executives. The average annual female salary was 66 million won ― 79.5 percent of the male average.
"High ratios of female employees at consumer goods conglomerates can be attributed to superior welfare benefits," a senior executive at a consumer goods conglomerate said. "These can attract women at entry level and also encourage them to stay."
Citibank and SC Bank showed high ratios of women at the executive level, while female employees accounted for 59 percent of workers at SC Bank.
"Women may prefer to work at foreign banks because the culture differs from that of local foreign firms, which tend to be conservative," a former foreign financial firm executive said.
