Waiting for Promotion but No Raise... The 'High Salary Shortcut' Chosen by Office Workers

Double the Average Annual Salary of Current Wage Earners

The standard for a 'high salary' as perceived by office workers was found to be 85.5 million KRW or more. Additionally, the majority of domestic office workers consider 'changing jobs' rather than 'promotion' as a way to increase their salary.

On the 29th, the recruitment platform 'JobKorea' conducted a survey of 721 male and female office workers, revealing that the average value for a 'high salary' according to office workers was 85.5 million KRW. By age group, workers in their 20s classified 78.6 million KRW, those in their 30s 84.7 million KRW, and those in their 40s 95.1 million KRW or more as a 'high salary.'

Office workers commuting to work. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

What did office workers consider the 'best way to increase salary'? The proportion of respondents who answered that 'changing jobs is a faster way than internal promotion at the current workplace' was 51.2%, exceeding half. This was followed by ▲becoming a manager or executive through promotion (46.3%) ▲accumulating years of service (46.3%) ▲obtaining professional certifications (22.3%) in that order.

As basic conditions for receiving a high salary, many answered that 'company size' (57.4%) was the most important. This was followed by 'ability' (37.7%), 'assigned job' (31.5%), and 'final education level and academic background.'

These responses seem to reflect recent changes in workers' perceptions of their workplaces. As job changes become more active, the concept of a 'lifetime job' is gradually fading.

However, there is a significant gap between the conditions for a high salary as perceived by most office workers and the current average salary of domestic workers. According to data released by the National Tax Service in February, the average annual salary (total pay) of Korean wage earners in 2022 was 42 million KRW.

The total pay of workers in the top 0.1% bracket averaged 989.8 million KRW per person, nearly reaching 1 billion KRW. These workers correspond to about 2.5 million people among all domestic wage earners.