"We're Now Earning 10 Million Won a Month"... Semiconductor Boom Drives Performance Bonuses at Major Electronic Component Firms

Average Monthly Wage Reaches 9.41 Million Won Last Year
Up 13% Year-on-Year, Nearly Double the Manufacturing Industry Average

Due to the impact of large-scale performance bonuses, the average monthly salary for regular employees at large electronic component manufacturing workplaces approached the 10 million won mark last year.

View of Samsung Electronics Suwon Headquarters in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by Yonhap News.

According to the National Statistical Portal (KOSIS) on May 17, the average monthly total wage (including regular, overtime, and special pay) per regular employee in the "Electronic Components, Computers, Visual, Audio, and Communication Equipment Manufacturing" sector at workplaces with 300 or more employees amounted to 9,418,797 won last year. This represents a sharp increase of 13.0% compared to the previous year.

This rate of increase is nearly double the overall average wage growth rate (6.9%) for all manufacturing sectors with 300 or more employees during the same period. By detailed industry, it recorded the second highest surge among all industries, following only water transport (23.0%).

The wage level itself also ranked among the highest across all industries nationwide. After petroleum refined products (10,880,000 won), postal and telecommunications (10,320,000 won), finance and insurance (10,020,000 won), and water transport (9,500,000 won), it firmly established itself as one of Korea's top five high-income industries. The electronic component sector had experienced a slowdown in growth until 2023 and even a downturn in 2024, but last year, driven by the AI boom, performance turned around, leading to a sharp rise in salary levels.

This surge reflects the record-high total compensation at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which lead the global semiconductor market. According to each company's business report disclosed in March this year, the average annual salary at Samsung Electronics last year rose by 21.5% from the previous year to 158 million won, while SK hynix saw a 58.1% jump to 185 million won, marking all-time highs for both companies.

The market expects that, with the semiconductor supercycle (a period of rapid growth) underway this year, the average monthly salary in the electronic component industry will easily surpass the 10 million won threshold. Based on last year's annual performance, a further increase of just 6.2% would push it above 10 million won.

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