Working women across the world continue to face wage inequality and a rollback in leadership representation—and the “motherhood penalty” makes their career success even harder. As employer demands force women in the U.S. out of the workforce, South Korean companies are stepping up to better the situation for female talent.
South Korean banks have rolled out several special perks to maintain women staffers. Last year, KB Kookmin Bank offered a “parental resignation” program where employees can take up to three years of unpaid child leave, and return to the job with the same rank and position from before—ensuring they don’t experience career setbacks from a long break. Financial group Woori offered its staffers a similar deal, with the cap set at two-and-a-half years. Other employers, like Shinhan Bank, also offer congratulatory “baby bonuses” to its staffers.
Even foreign banks that have set up shop in the country are making changes; Citibank Korea was the first company to offer four weeks of paid paternity leave to ease the burden on working parents, and also created a Flexible Work System in which employees can apply for remote or flex time. Standard Charteredhas also implemented 20 weeks of paid parental leave globally to all workers—regardless of their gender.
