Results of National Technical Qualification Salary Analysis
Higher Salaries for Engineer and Industrial Engineer Levels
An analysis of the median starting salaries received by young people who obtained national technical qualifications found that Metal Materials Engineer and Steelmaking Technician positions offered relatively high salaries at 3.4 million won. For middle-aged workers who newly found employment after acquiring national technical qualifications, salaries in construction-related fields, such as Construction Safety Engineer (3.71 million won), were higher.
Job seekers visiting the 2025 Mid-sized Company Job Fair held last month at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, looking at the job posting board
The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea released an analysis of salaries by national technical qualification category on May 25, 2025. They examined the average salaries listed in job postings that favored national technical qualifications on Goyong24 (formerly Worknet) in 2023, as well as the median salaries of those who obtained national technical qualifications and were employed as of the end of July 2024.
In 2023, there were a total of 127,612 job postings on Goyong24 that listed national technical qualifications as either a preferred or mandatory requirement, with 205,291 positions available for recruitment.
By qualification level, the average salaries offered in job postings were as follows: Professional Engineer, 3.28 million won; Master Craftsman, 2.83 million won; Engineer, 2.89 million won; Industrial Engineer, 2.83 million won; Craftsman, 2.61 million won; and Service sector, 2.28 million won. By job field, the figures were: Mining and Resources, 3.67 million won; Materials, 2.96 million won; and Construction, 2.95 million won.
By specific qualification, the average salaries offered were: Professional Engineer/Master Craftsman level (Construction Safety Professional Engineer), 4.62 million won; Engineer level (Construction Materials Testing Engineer), 3.64 million won; Industrial Engineer level (Construction Materials Testing Industrial Engineer), 3.89 million won; Craftsman level (Drilling Machine Operator Craftsman), 4.00 million won; and Service sector (Computerized Accounting Operator Level 2), 2.50 million won.
Based on employment insurance records, among 740,000 people who obtained national technical qualifications in 2023, 420,000 were job seekers aged 19 or older who acquired the qualification while unemployed. Of these, 173,000 (41.2%) found employment within one year. The median starting salaries for these new hires differed from the salaries offered in job postings.
By qualification, the median starting salaries were: Professional Engineer, 4.31 million won; Master Craftsman, 2.99 million won; Engineer, 2.65 million won; Industrial Engineer, 2.70 million won; Craftsman, 2.22 million won; and Service sector, 2.15 million won. By job field, the figures were: Mining and Resources, 3.40 million won; Safety Management, 2.90 million won; and Chemistry, 2.80 million won.
Limiting the analysis to businesses with 50 or more employees, the median starting salaries by qualification were: Engineer level (Concrete Engineer), 4.20 million won; Industrial Engineer level (Gas Industrial Engineer), 3.16 million won; Craftsman level (Pig Iron Craftsman), 3.14 million won; and Service sector (Secretary Level 2), 2.33 million won.
For businesses with 30 or more employees, the highest-paying qualifications among young people (ages 19-34) were: Metal Materials Engineer, 3.4 million won; Steelmaking Technician, 3.4 million won; Gas Industrial Engineer, 3.27 million won; and Pig Iron Craftsman, 3.14 million won.
For middle-aged workers (ages 35-54), the highest-paying qualifications were: Construction Safety Engineer, 3.71 million won; Construction Safety Industrial Engineer, 3.47 million won; Architectural Equipment Engineer, 3.33 million won; and Industrial Safety Engineer, 3.20 million won. For older workers (ages 55 and above), the top salaries were: Architectural Engineer, 3.98 million won; Construction Safety Engineer, 3.4 million won; and Architectural Equipment Engineer, 3.1 million won.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor analyzed that the differences between the salaries offered in job postings and the actual salaries of new hires were due to various factors, such as other qualifications, work experience, and educational background held by employees. In the case of young people (67.9%), the ministry explained that their starting salaries were relatively lower than the offered salaries because they typically joined companies with little or no experience.
Lim Youngmi, Director of the Vocational Competency Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, stated, "The wage information analyzed based on big data from over 200,000 job postings and more than 170,000 national technical qualification holders will be attractive information for job seekers who are obtaining national technical qualifications in order to secure quality employment."
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