There is a cataclysmic shift in the wage rankings of large corporations. The untact craze brought about by the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) is the impact that led to the war for recruiting software developers. The average annual salary of employees such as Kakao, Naver NCsoft, a leading tech company, surpassed 100 million won for the first time last year. The annual salaries of large traditional companies such as SK Energy, which occupied the’salary king’ position in 2019, and Hyundai Motor Company, Samsung C&T, and Lotte Chemical have begun to decline.
As a result of analyzing the average annual salary of 20 major conglomerates submitted by the Korea Economic Daily by the 19th, the average annual salary of employees of BBIG (battery bio internet game) companies such as Naver Kakao NCsoft, Celltrion, Samsung Biologics, LG Chem, Samsung SDI, etc. was last year. It increased by 6-35% compared to the same period. The annual salary of IT (information technology) companies has risen significantly. The average annual salary of Kakao employees last year was 180 million won, a 35% increase from the previous year. NCsoft (15.5 million won, 22%) and Naver (12.48 million won, 21%) also joined the ranks of 100 million won in annual salary.
The average annual salary of these three companies is closely following Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom, which have been at the top of the list for a long time. The average annual salary last year was 127 million won for Samsung Electronics and 121 million won for SK Telecom. A management official said, “As the borders between industries are falling, platform companies that have expanded their territory are attracting excellent manpower in the industry with their’unprecedented salary’ as a weapon.” Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom employees average 12 years of service, while Naver Kakao NCsoft averages only 5 years.
SK Energy employees, who received the most annual salary among large domestic companies, could not avoid Corona 19. Due to the plunge in international oil prices, SK Energy recorded an operating deficit of close to 2 trillion won last year. Last year, the average annual salary of SK Energy employees recorded 121 million won, down 8% from the previous year. The average annual wage of Hyundai Motor Company’s employees also decreased by 8% to 88 million won. In 2019, the average wage increased to 96 million won, but it plunged again due to the effect of Corona 19. Hyundai Motor Company paid employee stock ownership when the scale of incentives decreased compared to the previous year due to Corona 19 last year.
Kim Yong-chun, head of the employment policy team at the Korea Economic Research Institute, said, “The boundaries between industries are collapsing, but the development and education of talented people cannot follow it, and a’development manpower shortage’ is appearing. It is happening.”
Jae-yeon Ko/Hankyung Economic Daily [email protected]
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