[2022 Yangpyeong Index] Women’s Leadership Shining in Moments of Economic Crisis Like the Pandemic

Gender Equality Index, Which Had Been Steadily Improving, Drops for the First Time Since Survey Due to COVID-19 Aftermath
Score Falls 1.96 Points from Previous Year to 46.39, Survey of 98 Companies in 5 Industries
Impact of Care Gaps Leads to Significant Increase in Female Turnover Rate Compared to Male Turnover Rate

Kelly Choi, Chairperson of Kelly Deli, is delivering the keynote speech on "Action Rules to Become a Global Female Entrepreneur" at the 2022 Women Leaders Forum hosted by Asia Economy on the 19th at Lotte Hotel, Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Soyeon] In the 7th Asia Gender Equality Index survey, the indicators related to female utilization, which had steadily improved since the first survey in 2016, showed a decline for the first time. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the female employment rate indicator dropped significantly compared to the previous year, and the turnover rate of women increased sharply.

This year’s Asia Gender Equality Index (as of the end of 2021) scored 46.39 points, down 1.96 points from the previous year. The survey items included workforce composition, human resource management, work-family balance, and organizational culture. A survey was conducted on 98 companies across five industries: manufacturing, distribution & small and medium enterprises (SMEs), finance & securities, construction & real estate, and IT, pharmaceuticals & bio. Considering the company size by industry, the survey targeted 32 manufacturing companies, 23 distribution & SMEs, 18 finance & securities, 21 IT, pharmaceuticals & bio, and 4 construction & real estate companies.

According to the survey results, the average score by industry was highest in the IT, pharmaceuticals & bio sector at 50.68 points. Finance & securities followed with 49.18 points. Next were distribution & SMEs at 46.99 points and manufacturing at 41.52 points. Construction & real estate scored the lowest at 41.13 points. Although there are industry-specific characteristics, except for finance & securities, other sectors showed a worsening trend in the index. According to the gender equality consulting diagnostic system standards implemented by the government’s active employment improvement measures, a score between 45 and less than 55 is classified as ‘average,’ and between 55 and less than 70 as ‘excellent.’

On the 19th, Minister Kim Hyun-sook of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said in an encouragement speech at the Asia Gender Equality Index Awards ceremony, "As a result of many companies, including those awarded today, participating in improving organizational culture for work-family balance, positive changes toward an equal workplace are emerging, such as improved female employment rates and increased male parental leave takers."

In terms of workforce composition, the average ratio of female turnover rate to male turnover rate among the 98 respondent companies was 135.61%, a significant increase from last year’s 110.7%. Only the finance & securities sector showed a female turnover rate (80.59%) lower than the male turnover rate. The IT, pharmaceuticals & bio (178.97%), manufacturing (152.63%), and construction & real estate (143.33%) sectors had particularly high female turnover rates. Researcher Jeon Yi-young from Seoul National University Business Research Institute analyzed, "It is highly likely that care gaps caused by COVID-19 had an impact."

In all industries, the length of service for women was shorter than for men. The average ratio of women’s length of service to men’s was 85.06%. The finance & securities sector showed the highest ratio at 97.32%, while manufacturing had the lowest at 77.89%.

The ratio of female executives to total female employees was highest in the IT, bio & pharmaceutical sector group (34.75%) and lowest in finance & securities (9.79%). The ratio of female representatives in labor unions or labor-management councils compared to female employees dropped sharply to 73.45% from 95.17% the previous year. Only in the construction & real estate sector (108.53%) was the relative ratio of female representatives higher than that of male representatives.

In terms of human resource management, the promotion rate of female managers relative to the number of female employees averaged 40.52% across all industries. Compared to the previous year, IT, pharmaceuticals & bio (53.44%), distribution & SMEs (41.35%), and finance & securities (39.84%) showed higher rates. Regarding compensation, the average wage ratio of women to men at the staff level was 97.31%. The wage ratio of women to men at 5 years and 10 years of service was 96.19% and 94.3%, respectively, showing a widening gap compared to early career stages. However, the gap was found to have decreased compared to the previous year.

Regarding work-family balance, the utilization rate of the reduced working hours system during pregnancy was 51.77% across all industries. There was a significant difference by industry group, with distribution & SMEs having the highest rate at 85.04%, and finance & securities the lowest at 27.54%. Among the 98 companies, 64 (65.31%) offered paid paternity leave for men, a slight increase from 55 companies (59.78%) the previous year. Dr. Jeon said, "The introduction of flexible work systems, implementation of male parental leave, and care leave are spreading as systems for gender equality and work-family balance. The response rate is generally increasing, and the survey is becoming more thorough, which is believed to be due to growing corporate interest in the Gender Equality Index."

Professor Sung Sang-hyun of Dongguk University, who was in charge of evaluating excellent companies, commented, "Despite the very difficult management environment this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, and sharp rises in raw material prices and interest rates, the candidate companies for awards recognize the importance of utilizing female talent and are actively incorporating it into management." Professor Lim Hee-jung of Hanyang Cyber University said about Naver, which received the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Award that day, "Since July this year, they have introduced a new work system called ‘Connect Work.’ This system allows employees to choose between three days of on-site work per week or full remote work, and it is expected to have a significant ripple effect on other companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.