Women are standing out more in the banking industry in South Korea as the glass ceiling breaks, with their average annual salary exceeding 100 million won ($76,590) for the first time in 2022.

According to the business reports of Korea’s four major lenders - Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Hana, and Woori - on Tuesday, a female employee at KB Kookmin Bank earned 101 million won in annual salary and a staff member at Hana Bank 102 million won. It is the first time that the average annual salary has surpassed the 100 million won mark.

The annual salary of a female employee at Woori Bank was 94 million won and Shinhan Bank 90 million won, the lowest among the four banks.

The banking sector has been renowned for paying its employees more than 100 million won in annual salary, but this has been limited to male employees.

In 2012, the average annual pay of male employees at Hana Bank reached 122 million won while that of female employees stood at a mere 604 million won. Their salary also topped 100 million won in 2012 at KB Kookmin Bank, in 2014 at Shinhan Bank, and in 2017 at Woori Bank.

The gender wage gap is also edging down.

The average annual pay of male employees at Hana Bank in 2019 was 1.53 times that of female employees, but the gap narrowed by 10 percent to 1.39 times in 2022. The difference dropped to 1.34 times from 1.44 times at KB Kookmin Bank, 1.47 from 1.59 at Shinhan Bank and 1.26 from 1.45 at Woori Bank. Last year, Shinhan Bank had the biggest gap while Woori Bank had the smallest.

Women are being paid more as they are working longer. A higher pay comes with longer years of service.

The average tenure of female staff has increased every year since 2019 as the banks encourage them with welfare benefits.

According to a sustainable management report of KB Financial Group Inc., the group grants a six-month paid leave before or after giving birth to a child and a one-year paid parental leave per child. It also provides shortened work hours, flexible work hours, childcare benefits and daycare centers.

Industry insiders note that women are climbing up the ladder at their workplaces as banks place priority on performance and performance-based incentives.

Last year, Hana Bank promoted Lee Eun-jung, 49, head of Gold Private Banking (PB) at Club 1 PB Center, to a managing director for investment products as she demonstrated extraordinary capabilities and performance in asset management.

By Seo Jeong-won and Choi Jieun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]