The results of the Labor Ministry’s survey on measures for affirmative hiring is a shock. Of 520 companies with more than 1,000 employees, 28 percent have no female employees at the managerial level, and 78 percent have no female executives. Compared with the overall female hiring ratio (36.7 percent) and the overall ratio of female hiring at the management level (17.5 percent), the surveyed companies and government institutions fell behind, with the female hiring ratio showing 30.7 percent and the ratio at management level representing 10.2 percent.
The results reflect the reality Korean women face in the workplace. Women face difficulty getting jobs at large companies and public institutions. And if women take jobs, they have the strain of trying to climb the corporate ladder while also forced to worry about childcare or discrimination.
Together with this reality, what is remarkable is that the female hiring ratios at government-funded or government-affiliated institutions fell far behind those of private companies. Compared with a female employment ratio of 32.5 percent at private companies, the ratio at government-funded and government-affiliated institutions is 16.5 percent and 24.6 percent, respectively. In the case of the female-to-male ratio at the managerial level, private companies stand at 11.2 percent, compared with 1.7 percent of government-funded and 6.8 percent of government-affiliated institutions. There is barely any data to mention on the executive level. Of 14 government-funded institutions, only Korea National Railroad has female executives.
Based on this survey, the Labor Ministry announced it will set guidelines for female hiring and require companies that fall behind the standard to submit a plan to improve affirmative hiring. In addition, the ministry said it will encourage employers to hire more women via discussions and workshops. The ministry threatened to make public the names of companies that do not achieve the target.
However, with these limited approaches, it will be difficult for the ministry to improve female hiring. Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, who has placed the problem of the low birthrate and aging society as one of her top priorities, must take action on this issue, as well. A shortcut to address the issue of the low birthrate and societal aging is to pave ways for women to have better experiences bearing children. What is more important is to abolish discrimination in the workplace, which perceives marriage and birth as burdens, and ones that affect only women. At first, Prime Minister Han must set a quota for female hiring in government-affiliated and government-funded institutions. If they fail to implement the quota, the Prime Minister should take more aggressive measures, including holding companies directly responsible.
[Editorial] Prime Minister must act to improve ratio of females in workplace |
