Women account for 7.9% of Hyundai’s executive team in 2024, and they earn W495.78m in total compensation compared to W462.84m for men

Kim Hyo-lin, vice president of Hyundai Motor Co.'s feature strategy group under the advanced vehicle platform division, speaks at a July 1 media preview of UX Studio Seoul, a new public-facing research space where users can test and influence future in-car experiences. (Newsis)
Kim Hyo-lin, vice president of Hyundai Motor Co.'s feature strategy group under the advanced vehicle platform division, speaks at a July 1 media preview of UX Studio Seoul, a new public-facing research space where users can test and influence future in-car experiences. (Newsis)

Women now make up a larger share of Hyundai Motor Co.’s executive leadership than ever before, and in 2024, female executives earned more on average than their male counterparts when performance bonuses were included.

According to Hyundai’s recent 2025 Sustainability Report and regulatory disclosures submitted to South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service, the automaker had 64 female executives worldwide as of last year. This was an increase by five from 2023, representing 7.9 percent of all executives, which is its highest proportion to date.

Although average base salaries for male executives remained slightly higher, at 363.76 million Korean won ($265,800) compared to 353.37 million won for women, female executives received more in total annual compensation due to performance-based bonuses. On average, women earned 495.78 million won in total compensation, exceeding men’s average of 462.84 million won by 32.93 million won.

A similar pattern emerged among general employees. In 2024, the average salary for female staff at Hyundai, including bonuses, marked 61.24 million won, compared to 58.95 million won for male staff.

The increase in female executives has coincided with a broader rise in the number of women employed by the company. Between 2020 and 2024, the number of female employees grew by 36.2 percent, from 10,412 to 14,185. Male employment grew by 10.2 percent during the same period. As a result, the percentage of women in Hyundai’s global workforce rose from 8.6 percent in 2020 to 11.2 percent last year.

Regional data shows different rates of change. At Hyundai’s South Korea headquarters, the number of female executives rose from 14 in 2020 to 21 in 2024. North America saw an increase from 11 to 27 over the same period. Europe went from two to eight, while India appointed its first female executive last year. In contrast, China saw a decline, with the number of female executives falling from eight to three amid ongoing sales difficulties.

Female representation in technical and leadership roles is also increasing. Women made up 5.2 percent of employees in roles related to science, technology, engineering and math in 2024, up from 4 percent in 2020. The proportion of female managers rose from 6.8 percent to 11.7 percent.

Hyundai has set a goal to raise the share of women in senior roles by 2030. In Korea, it aims for women to hold 15 percent of positions at the managerial level and above, including research and executive roles, doubling the 2023 figure. Overseas, it targets 27 percent for women in comparable managerial positions, up by 10 percentage points from current levels.


mjh@heraldcorp.com