Lee Yeon-woo is a financial journalist at The Korea Times. Her wide range of reporting includes policies, macroeconomics, stock market, companies and even crypto. She is passionate about connecting the dots in Korean finance and making it easier for foreign nationals to understand. Based on her previous experience as a national reporter, she also has a keen interest in social issues within the sector, including gender equality and ESG. Your tips and insights are always appreciated. You can send them to yanu@koreatimes.co.kr.
Gender pay gap persists at brokerages as women earn 66% of men's pay
People walk down a street in Seoul’s financial district of Yeouido, Sept. 23. Yonhap
By Lee Yeon-woo
Female employees in the securities industry earned only about 66 percent of what their male counterparts made, data showed Sunday, though the gap has narrowed slightly in recent years.
According to reports disclosed by the Financial Supervisory Service, the average first-half salary per employee at Korea's top 10 securities firms was 103.5 million won ($70,408).
Meritz Securities topped the list with an average of 131.4 million won, followed by Korea Investment & Securities at 129 million won and Daishin Securities at 121 million won.
However, women, who make up 43.6 percent of all employees, continued to earn significantly less than men. The average first-half salary for female employees was 80.1 million won, just 66.4 percent of the 120.7 million won earned by their male counterparts.
At Meritz Securities, where the average pay was the highest, the gender gap was even wider. Female employees earned only 51.5 percent of what male employees made, with an average salary of 77.28 million won. Despite this, women at the firm had longer average tenures — 7.4 years compared to 6.2 years for men.
Data showed that the pay gap has eased to some extent. Female employees at the top 10 securities firms earned just 58.8 percent of their male colleagues' salaries in the first half of 2020. Over the past five years, the pay gap shrank by 7.6 percentage points, largely thanks to a 30.2 percent rise in women's pay — nearly double the 15.3 percent increase seen for men.
Industry officials attribute the persistent gap to the performance-based compensation system. Female employees are more concentrated in management and support roles, rather than in sales and trading divisions, where bonuses make up a larger share of earnings.
Gender imbalances at the executive level also play a role. As of June, only 46 of the 510 executives at the top 10 securities firms were women, accounting for just 8.6 percent.
"It is essential that companies recognize the importance of hiring women and involving them meaningfully in decision-making processes to enhance corporate value," said Lee In-hyung, a senior research fellow at the Korea Capital Market Institute. "This requires both societal consensus and institutional support."