As employers compete for technology workers and seek new ways to improve productivity, weight-loss drugs are emerging as an unusual new employee benefit in South Korea—a trend that could eventually interest U.S. companies and investors watching the expanding role of GLP-1 drugs in workplace health programs.
Pearl Abyss, a publicly traded South Korean video-game developer, recently began subsidizing Mounjaro and Wegovy for employees who receive prescriptions through the company’s in-house clinic. The company will cover up to 200,000 won, or roughly $145, a month toward the cost of either drug.
The move highlights how the rapid adoption of obesity treatments is beginning to extend beyond traditional health-care spending. For employers, GLP-1 drugs can represent a new category of workplace benefits, potentially adding to compensation costs while also offering a way to address employee health and absenteeism in industries that depend heavily on highly skilled workers.
Mounjaro and Wegovy generally cost about $180 to $300 a month in South Korea when prescribed for weight loss because the treatments aren’t covered by the country’s national health-insurance system. Employees must meet official body-mass-index requirements to qualify for the benefit.
The benefit has attracted attention in South Korea’s gaming industry, where companies compete aggressively for programmers, artists and other specialized workers. An executive at another game company called the program an unprecedented type of employee benefit, reflecting the industry’s willingness to experiment with perks that would be difficult for more traditional employers to introduce.
Pearl Abyss has 1,035 employees, including 656 game-development workers, or about 63% of its workforce. Many spend long hours at desks, while the company develops its own graphics, audio and other core game components.
The company has been building a broader benefits package aimed at giving developers more flexibility and allowing them to concentrate on game production. Last year, it began offering single-person households up to about $145 a month for home-cleaning services. It also introduced a pet-insurance benefit of up to about $360 a month for as many as three pets per employee.
Pearl Abyss has also installed a 24-hour unmanned laundry facility at its offices, allowing employees to handle laundry without leaving the workplace.
The latest benefit comes as the company’s finances have improved sharply following the March release of Crimson Desert, which has performed strongly in global markets.
Pearl Abyss reported second-quarter revenue of about $139 million and operating profit of roughly $49 million. Revenue rose 248% from a year earlier, while operating profit jumped 7,411%.
The stronger results have given Pearl Abyss more room to invest in employee benefits as competition for talent intensifies across the gaming industry.
The company said management believes it needs to offer top-tier benefits so employees can make full use of their skills. Most of its unconventional benefits, it added, originated from ideas submitted by employees.
