Corporate wage hike rate falls in 2012
The on-year fall in the wage increase rate apparently reflected local conglomerates' reduction of incentives and merit pay for their employees, officials at the Ministry of Employment and Labor said.
According to the ministry's survey of 6,814 companies that had more than 100 employees and completed wage negotiations, the average wage hike was tallied at 4.7 percent, marking a fall of 0.4 percentage point from 2011.
The so-called negotiated wage increase rate stayed in the range of 4 to 6 percent between 2001 and 2008 after rebounding from minus 2.7 percent in 1998, ministry data showed. The rate again fell to 1.7 percent in 2009 due to the global financial crisis but rose to 4.8 percent in 2010 and 5.1 percent in 2011.
"It seems that the economic slump appeared to slightly weaken conglomerates' capabilities to increase merit pay and incentives," said a ministry official.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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