Top 100 firms pay workers W73 million a year average

Korea’s top 100 companies pay an average annual salary of roughly 73 million won ($65,000), according to research released Tuesday by employment website Job Korea.

S-Oil, a petroleum and refinery company, had the highest wages, with an average annual salary of 110 million won per employee. Samsung Electronics followed with 107 million won and SK Telecom came in third with 102 million won.

SK Innovation, another oil refiner, and NH Securities & Investment tailed closely, both with 101 million won. Average wages fell under 100 million won for companies under the top five.

Job Korea’s data showed a vast gender gap when it comes to pay. Men earned an average of 80 million a year, 45 percent higher than that of women at 55 million won.

Men also made up a bigger part of the workforce at Korea’s top companies. Among 813,963 employees, excluding executives, 76.5 percent were men. Their presence was particularly big in manufacturing firms, especially those engaging in heavy industries. At Hyundai Steel, 97.4 percent of workers are men.

On the other hand, consumer-friendly companies like retailers had more female workers. Cosmetics maker AmorePacific had the largest proportion at 69.2 percent. Among men, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance paid the best, paying117 million won, while for women, Samsung Electronics was the most generous, with an annual salary of 81 million won.

Job Korea also studied the length of time employees spend at Korea’s top companies and found they work an average of 11.2 years. Men worked slightly longer, an average 11.7 years, and women typically spent eight years at a company.

Employees at Kia Motors had the longest tenure, 20.3 years, followed by KT and Posco with an average 19.7 and 19 years.

Job Korea based its results on the companies’ business reports from the Financial Supervisory Service’s online disclosure system.

BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]