Rising Demand for Electrical and Industrial Safety Certifications
Wage Gap of Up to 800,000 Won Depending on Certification Status
It has been found that companies most prefer candidates with certifications in electrical and industrial safety during the hiring process. In addition, employers often offer higher wages to job seekers who possess the required certifications, with some positions showing a wage gap of over 800,000 won per month depending on certification status.
According to the report "2025 Fall Employment Issue - Which National Technical Certifications Do Companies Prefer?" published by the Korea Employment Information Service on December 2, a total of 372,926 job postings on Employment24 between 2022 and 2025 included information about required certifications. The registered certifications covered 294 types, including Computer Literacy Level 2, Career Counselor Level 2, Word Processor, and Excavator Operator Certificate.
When posting job openings on Employment24, companies can list certifications that are legally required or deemed necessary for their business as mandatory qualifications. The number of job postings that required mandatory certifications was 138,353, and the top 30 certifications accounted for 117,996 of these postings.
An analysis of the 138,353 job postings requiring mandatory certifications showed that, in the engineer and industrial engineer categories, many companies required the Electrical Engineer and Industrial Electrical Engineer certifications. The number of postings requiring these certifications as mandatory was 10,323 and 12,082, respectively. This was followed by Architectural Engineer (5,533 postings), Construction Safety Engineer (3,733 postings), and Industrial Safety Engineer (3,444 postings), indicating strong demand for qualified talent in these fields.
In the technician category, demand was highest for Forklift Operator Certificate holders, with 22,122 postings. Korean Cuisine Technician was next, with 20,684 postings.
Looking at the median wage offered in postings requiring mandatory certifications, Architectural Engineer, Civil Engineer, and Architectural Industrial Engineer positions had the highest median wage at 4 million won. The median wage offered for Electrical Engineer positions was 2.9 million won, and for Industrial Electrical Engineer, it was 2.75 million won.
For 25 out of the 30 top certifications, the wage offered was higher when the certification was listed as mandatory. In particular, when the Architectural Industrial Engineer certification was required, the median wage offered was about 880,000 won higher per month compared to when it was not required, representing the largest gap among the certifications.
The report stated, "An analysis of the wages offered by companies for each certification shows that when a certification is designated as mandatory, the median wage offered is generally higher than for non-mandatory postings. This reflects the fact that having certified technical personnel directly contributes to a company's productivity and safety."
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