Women Take More Jobs at Public Firms
By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
Not only private companies, but also the country's state-run institutions have hired more women over the past year as more women obtain higher education amid rising female participation in economic activities. In particular, female job applicants are outpacing their male counterparts in a race to grab positions at public financial companies as well as companies with extensive overseas operations.
Analysts say an increasing number of women are getting higher education and applying for positions at public companies, which usually command handsome salaries and more generous benefits.
They also say more female applicants are taking new positions offered by state-run financial firms and companies dealing with businesses abroad as more women study finance and economics and excel at foreign languages, compared to men.
Among 31 publicly run companies, more than 40 percent of new jobs at 11 firms went to women over the past year and a half. Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) hired a total of 66 new employees in the first half of the year. Of the new workers, 51.5 percent were female.
Also, the ratio of females to newly hired workers by Korea Export Insurance Corp. (KEIC) increased to 41.7 percent in the first six months of the year, from 35 percent last year. Korea Securities Depository (KSD) filled 52.3 percent of its new positions with female employees last year, up from 33 percent a year earlier.
Also, in the private sector, the number of female workers employed by 69 listed firms affiliated with the country's 10 largest business groups totaled 80,129 as of the end of last year, up 47.6 percent from 54,274 four years ago, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Female workers accounted for 18.8 percent of the total 425,863 employees last year, up from 15.7 percent from 2002.
An IIAC official said it is hiring more women as the number of qualified female applicants has increased amid rising female education levels. ``Parents are also spending a lot of money to educate their daughters as they have fewer children. As a result, an increasing number of women participate in economic activities and many of them outshine men in job qualifications.''
A KEIC official also said women are usually better than men in foreign language ability and other communication skills, adding that the company is hiring more female workers as it increasingly needs to nurture global-minded talent.
But he also said a significant portion of its female workers still quit after marriage and childbirth. ``Female workers tend to shoulder most of the housework and childcare, which could disrupt their professional performance. Women usually lack in teamwork and are not as good at maintaining effective human relations as men.''