SeoulMarkets · tag
workforce
10 stories tagged “workforce”, each from official Korean data with its source and timestamp.
Women's workforce share: firm choice or sector mix?
Rank Korean firms by their share of women and apparel tops the list, heavy industry sits at the bottom. But that may sort sectors, not employers — the median listed firm is ~24% women. We show the spread, not the rank.
Women are 57% of the workforce at Korea's apparel firms and 8% at its steelmakers
Across listed firms the median female share of staff is 24%. But it splits hard by sector — about 57% in apparel, film and retail, under 10% in steel, autos and construction. Where women work divides more than how many. Not advice.
Korea's market carries 20 times more value per worker in finance than in apparel
Divide a listed company's market value by its headcount and industries split hard: a finance worker carries a median 470m won, an apparel or car-parts worker about 20-30m — twentyfold apart. Capital intensity, not output. Not advice.
The better a Korean company pays, the wider its gender gap
Rank listed companies by average pay and the gender gap widens as you climb. Firms paying under 50m won a head give women 75% of men's; those over 120m give 70%. A high-paying employer comes with a steeper ladder. Not advice.
Across Korea's listed companies, women's average pay is 73% of men's
Companies file average pay by gender. Across 2,720 listed firms the median woman's pay is 73.2% of the median man's, and four in ten sit below 70%. It is mostly a gap in who holds which job, not pay for the same work. Not advice.
Hiring more women does not narrow Korea's gender pay gap
You might expect firms with more women to pay women closer to men. They do not. From companies under 10% female to those over 60%, the median woman's pay holds near 73% of the man's — the gap barely moves with representation. Not advice.
In Korea, finance pays about twice what tech does — and tech isn't even second
Take the median listed company's average pay in each sector. Finance sits at 116 million won a year, roughly double information technology's 58 million. IT holds half the market's value and pays in the middle of the pack.
The Korean sectors that keep their workers longest employ the fewest women
Line up Korea's main listed sectors by how long people stay and by how many are women, and the two run opposite: a −0.68 correlation. Materials keeps people 8.6 years and is 13% women; health care keeps them 4.9 and is 40%.
The Korean sectors that employ women, and the ones that barely do
Sort every listed company by our sector scheme and take the median female share. Health care is 40% women and finance 35%; heavy industry, materials and utilities sit near 11 to 14%. The gap is roughly four to one.
Korean firms with more women underperformed by 17 points last year. Control for industry and the gap vanishes.
Across 2,573 listed companies, staff tenure and female share both look like they predict returns — in opposite directions. They are the same fact counted twice. One survives an industry control; the other does not.