Samsung Electronics raises wages by 7.5% this year… The highest level in 10 years

Enter 2021.03.26 16:00 | Revision 2021.03.26 17:18

The highest level in 10 years… Basic 4.5%・Performance 3%
Average increase of 4 to 5 million won… College graduate starting salary 48 million won
Dissatisfaction with the lower rate of increase than competitor
Samsung “Still higher than major companies”

Samsung Electronics’ labor and management decided to increase the wages of all employees by an average of 7.5% this year. Although the rate of increase is the highest in the last 10 years, some employees are constantly complaining that it is relatively low compared to competitors.

Samsung Electronics announced on the 26th that it has agreed with the employee council to increase the wages of all employees this year by 7.5% by adding the basic 4.5% and 3% performance. The wage increase rate is differentially paid based on the high performance of each employee’s position (career level and CL), and the lowest CL1 (high school graduates) and CL2 (college graduates) raise 11% of the basic salary.

‘Benefor You’, a welfare point that can be used in Samsung Electronics’ exclusive shopping malls, has increased from 700,000 points (one point is equivalent to 10,000 won) to 1 million points. Excess profit incentives (OPI), target achievement incentives (TAI), and special incentives are paid separately from the annual salary increase.

Samsung Electronics has concluded wage negotiations between February and mid-March and has been paying adjusted wages since March. However, this year, the timing of negotiations has been delayed a bit due to the atmosphere of employees expecting a high wage increase rate. Earlier, the company suggested an increase rate of around 3% based on basic salary this year, and the union insisted that it increase rate of 6.36%.

Regarding the wage increase plan, Samsung Electronics decided to increase the salary at a high level considering the high level of business performance, such as the record-high sales last year and an operating profit of close to 36 trillion won even in the situation of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19). “I said.

The reason why Samsung Electronics’ labor and management agreed on the highest wage increase rate within 10 years is that the average annual salary, which was proud of being the highest in Korea, is depicted as being overtaken by IT companies. In the case of Naver, employees in the 5.78 years receive 12.48 million won, while Samsung Electronics in the 12.4 years receives 127 million won. In addition, due to the booming game industry such as Nexon, NCsoft, and Pearl Abyss, the annual salary has been increased by over 10 million won without any conditions. NCsoft’s college graduate development job opening wage (55 million won) is higher than that of Samsung Electronics.

LG Electronics, a rival, also recently increased its annual salary by an average of 9%, and it is evaluated that Samsung Electronics’ increase rate seems to be persecution in terms of a simple increase rate. Employees of Samsung Electronics also left a post on the blinds of the anonymous community of office workers, saying, “While the representative wage has increased 2.4 times in a year, the increase rate of employees is not even lower than that of its rival LG Electronics.”

However, Samsung Electronics still maintains high wage competitiveness compared to major companies. An official from Samsung Electronics said, “We adjusted to maintain wage competitiveness 1.2 to 1.4 times higher than that of major companies.”