[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] NCSoft has decided to increase the annual salaries of its development and non-development job groups by 13 million KRW and 10 million KRW respectively. Additionally, it will remove the salary cap for new employees and guarantee starting salaries of 55 million KRW for development positions and 47 million KRW for non-development positions.
On the 11th, NCSoft announced this salary increase plan for its executives and employees. An NCSoft representative explained, "We have decided to implement the industry's top-level compensation policy to secure outstanding talent and strengthen our technology-based global competitiveness."
First, the regular annual salaries of all employees will be raised. Development job groups will see an increase of 13 million KRW, and non-development job groups will receive a 10 million KRW raise. In addition, further salary increases will be provided to high-performing outstanding talents.
Moreover, to attract top talent, the company will abolish the college graduate starting salary system. The starting salary for new employees (based on a non-inclusive wage system) will be 55 million KRW for development roles and 47 million KRW for non-development roles. This will apply to new employees hired through the 2021 open recruitment starting January this year.
The starting salary for new employees is guaranteed as a minimum with no upper limit. Depending on their capabilities and expertise, employees can receive higher salaries, and outstanding talents will be offered industry-leading compensation.
Furthermore, a 'CEO Special Incentive' based on maximum performance will be paid, amounting to 8 million KRW. This is separate from the regular incentives for last year's business performance. It will be paid to all current employees regardless of job type or position, including regular employees, contract workers, dispatched workers, and interns. Previously, NCSoft recorded its highest-ever performance with sales of 2.4162 trillion KRW and operating profit of 824.8 billion KRW last year.
NCSoft has traditionally set new salaries between March and April each year and applied them from April, but it is known to have decided on this policy earlier than usual amid the recent trend of salary increases in the gaming industry.
In fact, a salary increase relay has been ongoing recently within the gaming industry. Early last month, Nexon and Netmarble both announced plans to raise all employees' salaries by 8 million KRW, igniting the competition for salary hikes. Subsequently, Com2uS and Gamevil decided to uniformly increase salaries by 8 million KRW for current employees.
Following that, JoyCity proposed a higher increase of 10 million KRW, and ultimately, Krafton, the developer of the game "Battlegrounds," announced a groundbreaking plan to raise salaries by 20 million KRW for development roles and 15 million KRW for non-development roles.
With today's announcement of a four-figure salary increase plan, NCSoft continues to maintain its position at the industry's highest level.
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