As men's parental leave usage at the three mobile carriers has all risen over the past three years, LG Uplus' usage rate was found to be far ahead of SK Telecom and KT. The industry says a relatively young workforce, combined with a flexible organizational culture, has created an environment where men's parental leave is naturally accepted.
◇ LGU+ men's parental leave usage rate more than double SKT and KT
Comparing the 2025 business reports of the three carriers on the 6th, ChosunBiz found that LG Uplus had the highest men's parental leave usage rate last year at 32%. SK Telecom was 13%, and KT was 12.8%. The usage rate of parental leave is an indicator of how much childbirth and childcare-related policies are actually used within an organization.
The gap was also clear in the number of users. Last year, LG Uplus had 457 men take parental leave, the most among the three carriers. SK Telecom had 63, and KT had 24. Even when converted to the share of men taking parental leave out of all male employees, LG Uplus was 5.9%, far ahead of SK Telecom (1.6%) and KT (0.2%).
A similar pattern appeared in the use of spousal paternity leave. Last year, LG Uplus had the most spousal paternity leave users at 271. KT had 185, and SK Telecom had 100.
◇ A flexible culture shaped by a young workforce
The workforce structure is cited as the backdrop for the high men's parental leave usage rate at LG Uplus. Demand for parental leave typically concentrates among employees in their 30s to early 40s with infants or young children. As of last year, the average length of service at LG Uplus was 11.3 years, lower than SK Telecom's 13.7 years and KT's 19.3 years. While average tenure does not directly indicate average age, it serves as an indirect gauge of a relatively higher share of younger employees.
The industry interprets LG Uplus' young workforce, coupled with a more horizontal and flexible organizational culture, as having lifted men's parental leave usage. The lower the seniority and the higher the share of employees with young children, the greater the demand for the policy, and younger generations are more inclined to accept men's parental leave as a natural right. Differences in organizational culture are also seen as a factor. Even if men's parental leave is guaranteed by law and in-house policy, in practice, the eyes of supervisors and colleagues and concerns about career disadvantages after returning can come into play. In other words, the "permission to use it" atmosphere, more than the policy itself, determines usage rates.
A telecom industry official said, "The more real-world cases of men taking parental leave accumulate around you, the less people feel they have to watch others' eyes," and added, "The higher the share of young employees in an organization, the stronger the tendency to see parental leave not as an individual privilege but as a natural life-cycle policy." Another telecom industry official said, "After 2010, when LG Telecom, LG Dacom, and LG Powercom merged into LG Uplus, a large number of older employees were replaced through retirement and other changes, completing a generational shift to younger workers," and added, "As usage cases spread among younger employees, the usage rate increased rapidly."
◇ All three carriers see increases in "dad parental leave"
While LG Uplus leads in men's parental leave utilization, all three carriers have seen usage rates rise over the past three years. LG Uplus climbed from 23% in 2023 to 30% in 2024 and 32% last year. SK Telecom rose from 3% to 7% and 13% over the same period, and KT increased from 6.7% to 11.6% and 12.8%. Notably, SK Telecom climbed by nearly 10 percentage points in two years, the largest increase.
KT had a lower men's parental leave usage rate, but stood out in its use of the reduced working hours program for childrearing. Last year, KT had the most users of reduced hours during the childrearing period at 215. LG Uplus had 124, and SK Telecom had 4. This is interpreted as a relatively higher number of employees choosing to maintain work while reducing hours instead of taking long-term parental leave.
The industry expects men's parental leave usage rates to become a key indicator in ESG (environmental, social, and governance) management and the competition to secure talent. In the past, whether a policy existed mattered most; recently, actual usage rates and whether careers are maintained after returning are becoming standards for evaluating corporate culture. An Jeong-sang, adjunct professor at Chung-Ang University Graduate School of Communication, said, "The younger the employees, the more they consider not only pay and duties but also whether the organization allows work-life balance," and added, "Going forward, actual usage rates, rather than mere policy possession, will be an indicator of the competitiveness of corporate culture."