In 2023, the average salary of South Korean employees, which includes fixed salary and overtime pay, amounted to around 3.27 million South Korean won, a slight increase from the previous year. Average salary levels in South Korea have risen steadily over the past decade.
Working conditions in South Korea
The working conditions in South Korea have also generally improved in recent years. For example, the average number of hours worked by employees has steadily declined. At the same time, more and more wage and salary workers have taken advantage of flexible work arrangements such as flextime or working from home. However, there is still room for improvement in some areas – working hours are still very long compared with the international average, and working from home is not as widespread in small and medium-sized enterprises as in large companies.
COVID-19 and working from home
The COVID-19 pandemic has led many companies in South Korea to adopt remote and flexible work models. As a result, the number of employees working from home has increased dramatically – from 2019 to 2021 alone, the number of home office workers increased 12-fold. However, with the gradual subsiding of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of individuals working remotely has decreased.
