The prominent quartet of labels—HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment—in South Korea has consistently dominated the K-pop market, standing as the driving force behind the industry's most acclaimed idol groups.

Given their substantial size and unparalleled success in nurturing top-tier talent, it comes as no surprise that the public maintains a keen interest in every facet of these entertainment giants.

Recently, a popular online community shed light on the organizational dynamics of the four major entertainment agencies in South Korea, providing a comprehensive overview as of the second and third quarters of 2023. 

This detailed breakdown encompasses the gender distribution of employees within each company and the total number of employees, offering valuable insights into their workforce composition.

HYBE:

• Total: 707 employees
• Full-time employees: 209 males/ 466 females
• Temporary employees: 19 males/ 13 females

(228 males and 479 females in the second quarter)

SM Entertainment:

• Total: 680 employees 
• Full-time employees: 199 males/ 460 females
• Temporary employees: 9 males/ 12 females

(208 males and 472 females in the third quarter)

JYP Entertainment:

• Total: 356 employees 
• Full-time employees: 126 male/ 226 female
• Temporary employees: - 0 males/ 4 females (2 short-term employees)

(126 males and 230 females in the third quarter)

YG Entertainment:

• Total: 452 employees 
• Full-time employees: 166 male/ 234 female
• Temporary employees: 23 males/ 29 females

(189 males and 263 females in the third quarter)


Various labels under HYBE:

• Big Hit Music: 106 employees
• Pledis: 106 employees
• Belift Lab: 61 employees
• Source Music: 48 employees
• ADOR: 38 employees
• KOZ: 40 employees

Korean netizens joined the discussion on the online community site TheQoo with the shared data and gave their thoughts on the topic.

They commented, "YG has so many employees but why does it feel like they don't really do much work?" "SM needs to hire more workers," "YG doesn't really have active artists but they still house so many employees," "If I were to get hired, I'll go to HYBE," "HYBE has so many employees because they have Weverse, IM, 360, IP, and media studios that do other projects," "I'm guessing half of the YG Entertainment employees are there for the actors," "JYP really needs to hire more people," "What are the employees of YG doing?" and "SM has so many artists yet they only have that many employees?"