Wage Trends by Company and Job Role — 2026-06-29

The Growing Gap Between Nominal and Real Wages

In the first quarter of 2026, the average monthly nominal wage for regular workers in Korea reached 4,555,000 KRW, a 3.4% increase compared to the same period last year. However, when adjusted for inflation, the real wage came in at 3,844,700 KRW—an increase of only 1.3%. This indicates that a significant portion of salary raises is being wiped out by rising prices.

This trend is widening the gap between the salary levels workers actually experience and the official statistics. Individual salary increases are proving to be highly dependent on factors like industry, company size, personal performance, and negotiation skills.

Widening Promotion Gap Between Male and Female Managers

The gap in promotion rates for male and female managers in domestic companies is reaching a critical level. Over the past two years, this disparity has more than doubled, increasing from 2.6%p to 5.2%p. It was also found that more than half of female managers remain at the assistant manager level or below. Additionally, the wage gap between male and female executives has reached 824,000 KRW.

This suggests that career development opportunities for women within companies are being limited, which is identified as one of the key drivers of the wage gap across different job roles.

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etoday.co.kr

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Wage Increase Trends by Job Role

When companies conducted salary negotiations, the average increase rate was recorded at 7.5%. However, only 61.4% of respondents who engaged in salary negotiations reported a successful raise, a 5.3%p drop from the previous year.

A survey by Jobplanet found that the median salary increase rate reported by workers for 2026 was 5%. While this is higher than the nominal inflation rate, it is not sufficient to significantly improve real purchasing power.

Analysis and Background Issues

The Impact of Inflation: Despite a 3.4% rise in nominal wages in the first half of 2026, the mere 1.3% growth in real wages highlights the heavy impact of inflation. This means that substantive improvements in the living standards of workers are being severely constrained.

Structural Problems in the Gender Wage Gap: The widening promotion gap for managers and the 824,000 KRW difference in executive pay are seen as the result of limited advancement opportunities for women combined with pay disparities across job functions. This structural gap is a factor that must be considered when analyzing wage data by role.

The Rising Importance of Negotiation Skills: With the frequency of salary negotiations declining, the fact that the average increase for those who did negotiate (7.5%) is significantly higher than the median (5%) shows that individual negotiation skills and an awareness of market value are becoming increasingly vital in determining compensation levels.