The defense industry, a representative 'male-dominated workplace,' is introducing various support systems for childbirth and childcare to attract female talent. In the past, 99% of production jobs were held by men, leading to some places lacking women's restrooms. However, as South Korea's defense industry gains global recognition, the number of female applicants is increasing.
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) hired 48% (25 out of 52) of its new researchers as women in the first half of this year. KAI plans to recruit about 130 people in total this year, both in the first and second halves, and the number of female employees is expected to increase further by the end of the second recruitment period. The number of female employees at KAI rose from 355 (7.5% of the total) in 2021 to 421 (8.2%) last year.
Until the completion of a new building in 2020, there were no women's restrooms on the first floor of the factory. Development personnel had to go to the second floor to use the restroom. As the number of female employees increased, support for medical expenses for pregnant women and their partners, as well as maternity treatment leave, was introduced. Last year, KAI expanded its maternity payment support from 10 million won for the first and second children to 30 million won for the third child.
They are also implementing a flexible working system and reduced working hours for pregnancy and childcare periods. They operate an onsite childcare center and have expanded the nursing room in the establishment, and they are also operating a gender equality counseling center. A KAI official noted, 'Since 2019, we have started to improve various systems. In the past, the company was mainly composed of male employees, so many facilities and welfare systems were lacking, but we are striving to transform into a family-friendly corporation.'
As of the end of the first quarter this year, LIG Nex1 had 655 female employees, making up 13% of the total, a significant increase from 335 in 2021. The proportion of female employees is the highest among major defense corporations. LIG Nex1 has received government certification as a family-friendly corporation since 2017. They operate a reduced working time system for pregnancy and childcare and a flexible 40-hour work week, with plans to further expand it.
There are predictions that the proportion of women in the defense industry will continue to increase. According to a survey on the status of female scientific and technological personnel released by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the percentage of female students in engineering fields (including bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs) increased from 18.6% in 2014 to 23.7% in 2023. The recruitment rate of female engineers in major corporations' new hiring processes is also gradually expanding.
Nevertheless, the proportion of women in the defense industry remains lower than in other sectors. An industry official stated, 'Defense technology cannot be acquired in a short time, so continuous support is needed. The industry must also establish more diverse support measures to secure talent.'