Survey of 691 New Job Seekers in August
Average Desired Starting Salary Up 40,000 Won from Last Year
The average starting salary desired by new job seekers was found to be 41.4 million won.
HR tech company Incruit announced on the 29th that, according to a survey conducted from the 7th to the 23rd of this month, the average desired starting salary among 691 new job seekers?including those graduating from university in August this year and recent graduates?was 41.4 million won.
This year's average desired starting salary increased by 40,000 won from last year's 41.36 million won to 41.4 million won. However, the increase is significantly smaller compared to the 1.92 million won rise observed between 2023 and 2024.
The minimum acceptable starting salary for new hires was 36.37 million won, a decrease of 630,000 won from last year's 37 million won. Incruit analyzed that this reflects a slight lowering of expectations among job seekers due to the increasingly challenging employment environment.
By gender, the average desired starting salary was 41.28 million won for men and 37.31 million won for women. There were also differences by the type of company: 43.58 million won for large companies, 38.06 million won for mid-sized companies, and 30.93 million won for small companies.
When asked why they set their desired starting salary at a certain level, the most common response (34.9%) was that it was based on the size of the company and the average starting salary in the industry. The vast majority of respondents (94.8%) said that the salary level offered by a company influences their decision to apply.
The most important criteria when joining a company were satisfactory pay and compensation systems (40.1%), followed by opportunities for growth and development (14.5%), and excellent employee benefits (8.7%).
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