KRX, brokerages tap more women for top jobs

Korea’s bourse operator and several securities companies have recently promoted more women to senior management positions, sources said Friday, in a sign that the glass ceiling is being chipped away in the male-dominated industry.

In a personnel shake-up last week, the Korea Exchange (KRX) tapped two women as department heads, raising the number of female managers responsible for departments to three.

The three department heads, who have served at various key positions at the stock market operators, are widely deemed to be next in line for executive-level positions.

The bourse operator also increased the number of team leaders to eight from the previous five.

The latest personnel revamp has hiked the percentage of female department heads at the KRX to 7.9 percent from 5.1 percent. Female employees account for 21.5 percent of the KRX payroll.

“The ratio of female staff remains still low, but it represents a big departure from 2005, when the integrated bourse set sail,” a KRX official said. “At that time, the KRX had no female department heads and a mere 12.6 percent of employees were women.”

The KRX is not alone in tapping more women for senior-level positions.

In a personnel reshuffle in late February, the Korea Financial Investment Association, the sole self-regulatory organization of the South Korean financial industry, appointed the first female executive in its history.

In a regular personnel shake-up in January, Shinhan Investment raised the number of female department heads to three from the previous one. The number of center chiefs and branch managers also rose to seven from five.

IBK Investment & Securities conducted a regular personnel shake-up in January, promoting some 70 employees. Women accounted for nearly 49 percent of the total. The brokerage house appointed two female executives for the first time.

Yonhap