KGCCI Salary Survey Korea 2014 For Members only May 2014 KGCCI 1
Contents 1 Executive Summary 8 2 Methodology 11 3 Results 13 3.1 Basic Statistics for Participating Companies 13 3.1.1 Line of Business 13 3.1.2 Size of Business 13 3.1.3 Staff Costs-Turnover Ratio 14 3.2 Salaries/Benefits per Position 15 3.2.1 Head of Organization 19 3.2.2 Management 21 3.2.3 Senior Sales Staff 23 3.2.4 Senior Technician 25 3.2.5 Senior accountant 27 3.2.6 Junior sales staff 29 3.2.7 Junior technician 31 3.2.8 Junior accountant 33 3.2.9 Executive assistant 35 3.2.10 Driver 37 3.3 Salary Adjustments in 2014 39 3.3.1 Changes in Salary Payments 39 3.3.2 Changes in Bonus Payments 45 3.3.3 Reasons for Salary Adjustment 52 3.4 Human Resources Environment 54 3.4.1 Employee Structure 54 3.4.2 Retirement Age 59 3.4.3 Retirement Allowance System 60 3.4.4 Human resource development for the next 12 months 61 3.4.5 Newly Hired Junior Employees 63 3.5 KGCCI Salary Survey: 5-Year Overview 65 3.5.1 Statistical Sample 65 3.5.2 Employee Structure 67 3.5.3 Salary Development 69 4 Appendix I: Questionnaire 73 KGCCI 2
5. Appendix II: General Information on employment and labor policy in Korea 81 5.1 Employment status and category of workers 82 5.2 Regulation of employment relationship within the written contract 83 5.3 Minimum wage 83 5.4 Differences between ordinary wage, average wage and Bonuses 84 5.5 Working time, paid leave and holidays 85 5.6 Social insurance contributions 86 5.7 Termination of employment 87 5.8 Grants and incentives for hiring new employees 88 5.9 Korea s economy at a glance 89 KGCCI 3
List of Tables Table 1: Overview of Questionnaire 12 Table 2: Overview of Average Annual Salary and Bonus for 2013/2014 (in million KRW) 15 Table 3: Comparison chart Staff positions surveyed in 2013 and 2014 16 Table 4: Comparison chart Benefit categories surveyed in 2013 and 2014 17 Table 5: Top 3 line of businesses 2010-2014 65 Table 6: Companies according to number of employees 67 Table 7: Reasons for salary adjustments 72 Table 8: Average salary of new employees, 2010-2014 72 KGCCI 4
List of Figures Figure 1: Line of Business 13 Figure 2: Size of Business in Number of Employees 14 Figure 3: Ratio of Staff Costs to Turnover 15 Figure 4: Overview of Benefits Granted to Different Positions 2014 18 Figure 5: Head of Organization - Salary 19 Figure 6: Head of Organization - Total Years of Work Experience 20 Figure 7: Head of Organization - Benefits 20 Figure 8: Management - Salary 21 Figure 9: Management - Total Years of Work Experience 22 Figure 10: Managements - Benefits 22 Figure 11: Senior Sales Staff - Salary 23 Figure 12: Senior Sales Staff - Total Years of Work Experience 24 Figure 13: Senior Sales Staff - Benefits 24 Figure 14: Senior Technician - Salary 25 Figure 15: Senior Technician - Total Years of Work Experience 26 Figure 16: Senior Technician - Benefits 26 Figure 17: Senior Accountant - Salary 27 Figure 18: Senior Accountant - Total Years of Work Experience 28 Figure 19: Senior Accountant - Benefits 28 Figure 20: Junior Sales Staff - Salary 29 Figure 21: Junior Sales Staff - Total Years of Work Experience 30 Figure 22: Junior Sales Staff - Benefits 30 Figure 23: Junior Technician - Salary 31 Figure 24: Junior Technician - Total Years of Work Experience 32 Figure 25: Junior Technician - Benefits 32 Figure 26: Junior Accountant - Salary 33 Figure 27: Junior Accountant - Total Years of Work Experience 34 Figure 28: Junior Accountant - Benefits 34 Figure 29: Executive Assistant - Salary 35 Figure 30: Executive Assistant - Total Years of Work Experience 36 Figure 31: Executive Assistant - Benefits 36 Figure 32: Driver - Salary 37 Figure 33: Driver - Total Years of Work Experience 38 Figure 34: Driver - Benefits 38 Figure 35: Head of Organization - Salary Adjustment 40 KGCCI 5
Figure 36: Management - Salary Adjustment 40 Figure 37: Senior Sales Staff - Salary Adjustments 41 Figure 38: Senior Technician - Salary Adjustments 42 Figure 39: Senior Accountant - Salary Adjustments 42 Figure 40: Junior Sales Staff - Salary Adjustments 43 Figure 41: Junior Technician - Salary Adjustments 43 Figure 42: Junior Accountant - Salary Adjustments 44 Figure 43: Executive Assistant - Salary Adjustments 44 Figure 44: Driver - Salary Adjustments 45 Figure 45: Head of Organization - Bonus Adjustments 46 Figure 46: Management - Bonus Adjustments 46 Figure 47: Senior Sales Staff - Bonus Adjustments 47 Figure 48: Senior Technician - Bonus Adjustments 48 Figure 49: Senior Accountant - Bonus Adjustments 48 Figure 50: Junior Sales Staff - Bonus Adjustments 49 Figure 51: Junior Technician - Bonus Adjustments 49 Figure 52: Junior Accountant - Bonus Adjustments 50 Figure 53: Executive Assistant - Bonus Adjustments 50 Figure 54: Driver - Bonus Adjustments 51 Figure 55: Change in salary payments planned for 2014 (in % of annual salary) 51 Figure 56: Change in bonus payments planned for 2014 (in % of 2013 bonus) 52 Figure 57: Criteria for Changes of Salary and Bonus 52 Figure 58: Annual Employee Turnover (in %) 54 Figure 59: Share of New Full-Time Employees (in %) 55 Figure 60: Share of Female Employees (in %) 56 Figure 61: Share of Employees with 1- or 2-Year Contracts (in %) 56 Figure 62: Payout for Unused Vacation Days 57 Figure 63: Payout for Vacation Days not Taken by Employees 58 Figure 64: Congratulations and Condolence Leave 58 Figure 65: Special Leave (Summer Holidays etc.) 59 Figure 66: Retirement Age 60 Figure 67: Retirement Allowance System 61 Figure 68: Number of Job Created 61 Figure 69: Number of Jobs Cut 62 Figure 70: Absolute Number of Fluctuations 62 KGCCI 6
Figure 71: Monthly Starting Salaries for Bachelor and Master in 2014 (in million KRW) 63 Figure 72: Bonuses for Recently Hired Employees in Their First Year 64 Figure 73: Number of Respondents 2010-2014 66 Figure 74: Share of female employees (in %) 2010-2014 68 Figure 75: Average age of female and male employees 2010-2014 68 Figure 76: Average Monthly Salary in Mil. Won 70 Figure 77: Average Paid Bonus in Mil. Won 71 KGCCI 7
1 Executive Summary Five years ago, the first KGCCI Salary Survey was published. It was the first empirical salary survey in Korea among foreign-invested companies from German-speaking countries. This one-of-its-kind endeavor since then has been realized every year and has grown to be one of KGCCI s trademarks. KGCCI has herein concluded its fifth report on 1) local salary structures, 2) relevant benefits, and 3) rules of employment of foreign-invested companies in Korea. After positive feedback and thorough reviews of the past analyses, the aim of this study remains to provide our members with an accurate insight into human resources and employment-related issues, and to serve as a point of orientation for future HR policy adjustments in Korea. For the fifth KGCCI Salary Survey 2014, the questionnaire has been optimized to respond to and reflect our members needs adequately. Sent to all KGCCI corporate members 1 in January/February 2014, and running online on the KGGCI website until March 2014, the survey reached a participation rate of about 10%, as a total of 27 companies submitted their responses. As there have been a number of changes in the survey items and consequently in the data analysis, an overview of the past five years of KGCCI Salary Survey results can be found under chapter 3.5 of this report. The report is structured as follows: The Executive Summary in Chapter 1 is followed by an explanation of the methodology in Chapter 2, which also lists the survey items for a first overview. After summarizing basic information on participating businesses (3.1), Chapter 3 analyzes the outcomes of the survey relevant to salary and benefits. It provides information on the salaries and benefits applying to the different positions (3.2) and sheds light on salary adjustments (3.3). The chapter then goes on to the human resources environment (3.4) and elaborates on working hours, vacation, types of leaves and retirement allowance systems. After that, a critical and comparative overview of the past KGCCI Salary Survey findings (3.5) is presented. Lastly, the appendix entails the questionnaire as well as a brief overview of the legal employment situation in Korea. 1 This year two Swiss businesses participated in the survey. KGCCI 8
Key findings of the KGCCI Salary Survey 2014: Salary Businesses in 2014 continue to increase salaries and/or bonuses for most positions. Bonus payments generally show more freezes and decreases than salaries in 2014, but growth is steady at 1%-5%. Individual performance remains the most prominent reason for changes in salary and bonus payments. In second most cases, adjustments are based on the inflation rate. Following last year s trend, fixed bonuses in contracts 2014 rise significantly for certain positions, especially management, senior sales staff, and executive assistants. In 2014, employees further enjoy a wide range of benefits at companies, the most applicable ones being further training and education, lunch allowances, and expenditure for congratulations and condolences. Salary spreads between Bachelors and Masters are still low. New junior staff is being paid fairly similar salaries across departments (sales, technical, executive assistant). A vast majority of first-year junior employees receive bonuses. HR Development Businesses keep improving their salary conditions in 2014 and invest considerably more in their staff. The staff costs-turnover rate is at an average of 25.57%, which is 10% higher than in 2013. Amicable termination is the second-most stated reason for contract termination, after operational reasons. Staff The average male employee is one year younger (38) than last year, while female employees are on average still 34 years old. Women represent almost one third of the workforce. Almost 13% of all staffs have 1- to 2-year contracts. Among respondents, significantly more jobs are being created than cut in 2014, mostly for business startup or expansion. KGCCI 9
Statistical Sample 27 businesses have participated in the restructured and improved survey 2014. Most respondents are in the machinery and equipment sector, followed by respondents from the automotive and parts industry. Two thirds of surveyed companies have >50 staff (the majority reaching over 300). Companies of 6-50 staff constitute the last third. I would like to thank the colleagues in the KGCCI Marketing Research Division who developed and organized the KGCCI Salary Survey 2014, analyzed the data and compiled the survey outcomes in this valuable report. Special thanks to Ms. Young-Jin Kim, Mr. Maximilian Erhard and Ms. Klara Kim. Barbara Zollmann KGCCI Secretary General & Executive Director KGCCI 10