Office Workers' Desired Salary Increase Rate '7.4%'... Reality Is 4.6%

JobKorea Survey on Salary Negotiation Status Among Employees
"65.6% Not Satisfied with Salary Negotiation"

Workers in South Korea wanted an average annual salary increase of about 7.4% this year, but the actual increase rate was only 4.6%.

Employment platform JobKorea recently announced the results of a 'Worker Salary Negotiation Status' survey conducted on 937 workers on the 12th. According to the survey, the desired salary increase rate for this year was an average of 7.4%. By company size, the averages were 7.5% for large companies, 7.3% for mid-sized companies, and 7.5% for small companies, showing little difference. At the time of the survey, 30.4% of workers had completed salary negotiations. Large companies had the highest rate at 32.6%, followed by mid-sized companies (31.1%) and small companies (29.9%).

About 69.5% of workers received a salary increase compared to last year. On the other hand, 29.1% had their salaries frozen, and 1.4% experienced a pay cut. The average salary increase rate among them was 4.6%. By company size, large companies had the lowest average increase at 3.8%, mid-sized companies 4.5%, and small companies 4.8%. All fell short of expectations. In fact, 65.6% of respondents answered that they were 'not satisfied,' while only 34.4% said they were 'satisfied.' About 46.3% of workers decided to change jobs due to dissatisfaction with the salary negotiation results. By years of experience, those with 11-15 years (54.0%), 6-10 years (46.5%), less than 5 years (44.2%), and over 16 years (42.3%) showed interest in other companies in that order.

A JobKorea official said, "Many workers decided to change jobs due to conflicts with their companies over the results or process of salary negotiations," and advised, "Before conducting salary negotiations, it is necessary to organize your own achievements, capabilities, and value, and check the industry salary levels to establish your desired goals."