April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] South Korean office workers’ pay has increased well below expectations this year, a poll showed on March 24.

According to the survey of 883 salaried workers taken by local education service institute Hunet, 51.5 percent of the respondents wanted their 2017 pay to rise in a range of 5 to 9 percent from a year earlier. The median is 7 percent, which is much lower than the actual rise of 2.7 percent for this year.

Slightly over 24 percent hoped their salary would increase in a band of 3 to 5 percent, with 20.3 percent hoping for a raise of 10 percent or more. Nearly 54 percent of the surveyed said they are displeased with their salary levels.

The largest percentage of the respondents at 33.9 percent said their salaries have been frozen for this year, while 32.6 percent said their pay has risen less than 3 percent.

The findings also showed 2.5 percent have received substantial pay hikes, with 3.1 percent suffering from salary cuts.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)