The average daily wage of production workers in small and midsize manufacturing for the first time topped 120,000 won. It rose 5.8% from the same period a year earlier, showing continued wage gains across major occupations.
The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises announced on the 29th the results of the "2026 first-half wage survey by occupation in small and midsize manufacturing," conducted on 1,500 small and midsize manufacturers (30 billion won in sales and 10 or more regular employees). The survey examined wage levels for 129 production occupations as of March this year.
The survey found the average daily wage of production workers in small and midsize manufacturing in the first half of this year was 120,610 won. That was up 5.8% from the first half of last year (114,007 won) and 5.2% from the second half of last year (114,682 won), respectively.
By major occupation, the average daily wage for elementary laborers was 95,767 won, up 5.6% from a year earlier (90,694 won). Shop-floor supervisors increased 5.3% from 139,712 won to 147,122 won, and parts assemblers rose 4.5% from 105,323 won to 110,036 won.
The average daily wage by occupation was highest for chemical engineering quality controllers at 174,040 won, while shoe manufacturing machine operators were lowest at 87,798 won, it was found.
The published survey labor cost will be applied as the standard unit price for labor costs in contracts with the state starting on the 1st of next month. Detailed occupation-by-occupation survey labor costs and explanatory notes in the survey report can be found on the KBIZ website.