Part-time Workers' Desired Minimum Wage is 10,648 Won... What Do Employers Think?

Albacheonguk 2024 Hope Minimum Wage Survey
85.7% of Part-timers "Minimum Wage Should Increase Next Year"
Employers Say "Freeze or Decrease... 9,539 Won Appropriate"

As discussions on the 2024 minimum wage continue, a survey revealed a clear gap between the perspectives of part-time workers and employers.

Whether hoping for a minimum wage increase or freeze... "Concerns over real wage decline"

On the 27th, Alba Heaven, a job portal specializing in part-time jobs, conducted a survey on the '2024 minimum wage' with 1,713 current part-time workers and 137 corporate members. The results showed that the majority of part-time workers (85.7%) want an increase, while most employers advocate for a freeze (45.3%) or a decrease (40.1%).

The biggest reason part-time workers want a minimum wage increase is "real wage decline (64.6%, multiple responses allowed)."

Alba Heaven interpreted this as "due to recent consecutive price hikes, real wages have actually decreased."

Other reasons included ▲unstable living conditions with the current hourly wage (30.9%) ▲hourly wage being low compared to work intensity (29.5%) ▲annual increases in the past (17.9%), among others.

Among the 13.5% of part-time workers who want a freeze, 72.0% cited concerns about rising prices alongside wages, indicating worries about real wage decline.

"There are already many"… Wanting a freeze or decrease, but "Next year's minimum wage likely to exceed 10,000 won"

Employers hoping for a minimum wage freeze expressed concerns about "labor cost burdens" (51.6%). They also stated that "current wages are sufficient considering work intensity" (48.4%) and that "it would be difficult to comply with the minimum hourly wage if it increases further" (40.3%).

Among employers advocating for a minimum wage decrease, 70.9% cited "labor cost burden" (multiple responses allowed) overwhelmingly. Other opinions included ▲hourly wage being set too high relative to work (43.6%) ▲past excessive increases (30.9%) ▲to maintain or increase part-time employment (29.1%) ▲concerns that the employment environment for part-time workers might worsen (23.6%).

When asked to specify their desired 2024 minimum hourly wage in an open-ended response, part-time workers and employers averaged 10,648 won and 9,539 won, respectively. Compared to the current minimum hourly wage of 9,620 won, part-time workers’ desired amount is 10.7% higher, while employers’ is about 0.8% lower.

Opinions on the much-discussed first-ever minimum wage surpassing 10,000 won were also surveyed. Regardless of whether they hoped for it or not, a majority of both part-time workers and employers expected next year’s minimum wage to exceed 10,000 won, with 75.0% of part-time workers and 54.7% of employers holding this view.

8th Plenary Meeting of the Minimum Wage Commission to be held on the afternoon of the 27th

On the 24th near Hyehwa Station in Seoul, members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions held up hand placards demanding an increase in the minimum wage at the "National Workers' Rally for the Resignation of the Yoon Seok-yeol Administration." [Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, the 8th plenary meeting of the Minimum Wage Commission to discuss the minimum wage level for 2024 will be held on the afternoon of the 27th at the Government Sejong Complex.

At this meeting, user representatives such as the Korea Employers Federation are likely to demand a freeze as their initial business sector proposal regarding the minimum wage level.

There are speculations that since the previous meeting’s proposal to apply differentiated minimum wages by industry was rejected, the business sector might demand a reduction.

Worker representatives proposed an initial demand for next year’s minimum wage at 12,210 won per hour and 2,551,890 won monthly (based on 209 working hours), a 26.9% increase from this year’s minimum wage (9,620 won per hour, 2,010,580 won monthly), citing domestic consumption activation, wage inequality resolution, and real wage decline for workers.

If this increase rate exceeds 3.95%, next year’s minimum wage will surpass 10,000 won.

The legal deadline for this year’s minimum wage discussions is the 29th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.