Coupang's 1st woman distribution center leader aspires to balance work, parenting

Kim A-rim is the first woman leader of one of e-commerce company Coupang’s distribution centers known as delivery camps. The 32-year-old said the company’s women-friendly work environment has allowed her to balance work and parenting, according to Coupang, Sunday.

Coupang said Kim was recently promoted to leader of its logistics subsidiary Coupang Logistics Service's Ilsan 1 Delivery Camp. Coupang's delivery centers are responsible for delivering goods from its warehouses to customers.

As a leader, Kim is responsible for planning the delivery operations of the daily shipments. At the delivery camp located north of Seoul, Kim has ensured that deliveries reach customers living in Goyang City in Gyeonggi Province and Paju, where military camps are situated and mountainous areas without markets, quickly and safely.

“Thanks to the women-friendly work environment, I have been maintaining a good work-life balance as a working mom of two children who are aged seven and nine,” Kim said via Coupang’s in-company interview. “CLS (Coupang Logistics Service) has enough substitute workers, so I can take advantage of programs like family care leave, which I use for holidays like Children's Day.”

As she said, Coupang has been operating a working system designed to be friendly to women employees enabling them to balance their work and childcare obligations. According to the company, the use of paternal leave and reduced working hours during child care periods increased by four times in 2022 compared to 2020. Thanks to this type of support, the percentage of women in Coupang's logistics and delivery centers is over 45 percent, the company added.

Coupang also uses a variety of innovative technologies to make work easier for employees, the leader said. For example, Coupang's Rocket Delivery App allows delivery drivers to be guided to the fastest route when making deliveries.

“Even in the complicated alleys, they can see at a glance where the delivery location is, and they can even see the route to the entrance and exit, making it easy for everyone to find their way around, which greatly helps to reduce work time,” Kim, who teaches how to use the app to new hires, said.

“We also utilize Auto Sorter, which automatically sorts goods by address. This helps our delivery staff focus on delivering,” she added.

The camp leader said that, like all working moms, she wants to balance work and child care, and hopes to see more women staff in the future.

Coupang said it will invest more than 17 billion won ($125.5 million) over the next three years to promote employment and women's empowerment in Asia, including Korea. “Coupang will continue to work to ensure that diverse employees, including women, have a stable work environment,” a spokesperson of the company said.