Korean workers are feeling conflicted after completing this year's salary negotiations. While six in ten received raises, fewer than half expressed satisfaction with the results. Behind the headline figure of an average annual salary of 45 million won lies a starkly different reality.
Raises Up, Spirits Down
A survey of 1,305 workers by HR tech firm Incruit, released on the 3rd, found that 40.7% had completed salary negotiations for 2026. Among them, 61.4% reported receiving raises—down 5.3 percentage points from last year.
Public corporations and government agencies posted the highest raise rate at 77.0%, followed by large corporations (67.1%), mid-sized firms (64.2%), and small and medium enterprises (55.2%). However, the proportion of workers receiving raises declined across all company types compared to the previous year.
The average raise among those who received one was 7.5%, up from 5.4% last year. This suggests companies are increasingly adopting selective increases—rewarding some generously while freezing others' pay.
The share of workers reporting frozen salaries hit 36.2%, the highest in three years. Pay cuts affected 2.4%.
Despite some receiving larger raises, 58.9% of negotiators said they were dissatisfied with the outcome. Nearly a quarter requested salary adjustments, with about half of those succeeding.
The negotiations appear to have triggered an exodus mindset. Some 52.9% said they considered resigning after talks concluded, with 92.5% of that group planning to seek new jobs citing compensation.
The 45 Million Won Illusion
Another figure is adding to workers' frustration. Data submitted to Rep. Park Sung-hoon of the People Power Party by the National Tax Service showed the average annual salary for Korean workers in 2024 was approximately 45 million won.
But the average masks deeper inequality. The median salary—the midpoint when all workers are ranked by income—was just 34 million won. More than half of all workers earn less than 3 million won monthly.
High earners are skewing the average upward. The top 0.1% averaged 999 million won annually, while the top 1% earned 346 million won. Workers needed to rank in the top 35% to earn at or above the 45 million won average.
The gap widens further down the scale. Those at the 60th percentile averaged 29 million won, dropping to 24 million won at the 70th, 16 million won at the 80th, and 9 million won at the 90th percentile. One in four workers earns less than 20 million won annually.