Last year, the annual average wage total for regular workers at enterprises with 300 or more employees exceeded 70 million won for the first time.
According to a report titled 'Analysis of wage increase characteristics of enterprises in 2024' published by the Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) on the 16th, the annual wage total for regular workers at domestic enterprises with 300 or more employees last year was 71.21 million won, a 2.2% increase compared to the previous year. Even excluding bonuses, it surpassed 70 million won for the first time.
Regular workers refer to those in fixed-term contracts of one year or more, as well as permanent and indefinite contract employees. The annual wage is the sum of fixed pay (base salary, regular allowances, etc.) and special pay (bonuses, etc.), excluding overtime pay (overtime and holiday allowances).
The annual wage total for enterprises with 300 or more employees has increased from 59.95 million won in 2020 to 68.06 million won in 2022 and 69.68 million won in 2023.
Last year, the highest annual wage total by industry was in the electric, gas, and steam supply sector at 88.70 million won, surpassing the finance and insurance sector (88.60 million won) for the first time in five years since 2019. The sector with the lowest annual wage total was the accommodation and food service sector at 30.84 million won.
Compared to enterprises with 300 or more employees that include large corporations, the wage level for enterprises with less than 300 employees that include small and medium-sized enterprises recorded 62.2% last year. This is slightly higher than 61.7% in 2023, but still lower than 64.2% in 2020, noted KEF. KEF analyzed that 'the wage gap has widened since 2020 due to large corporations increasing special pay such as performance bonuses.'
Ha Sang-woo, head of the economic research department at KEF, said, 'We must stabilize the excessively high wages of large corporations driven by a seniority-based wage system and labor movement centered on large corporations, and we should refrain from excessive performance bonuses for high-wage workers.'