The era of ‘hundreds of millions of annual salaries’ from large corporations… Half of the top 100 companies average over 100 million won

#’100 million won club’ 9 companies in 2019 → 48 companies in 2023… “Influence of high inflation”
#Sales ‘Top 10’ are all in the 100 million won range… Samsung Electronics 120 million won, Hyundai Motors 117 million won, SK 119 million won

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Bo-kyung and Kim A-ram = Among the top 100 companies in sales last year, the proportion of companies with an average annual salary of employees exceeding 100 million won was found to be close to half.

The number of large companies joining the ‘100 million won club’ has increased more than five-fold in four years, which is believed to be due to wage increases due to high inflation.

On the 24th, Yonhap News analyzed the business reports of the top 100 non-financial listed companies in sales, and found that a total of 48 companies had average employee annual salaries exceeding 100 million won last year.

This means that half of the employees at large companies receive compensation exceeding 100 million won per year.

The number of top 100 companies in sales joining the ‘100 million won club’, where the average annual salary of employees exceeds 100 million won, is increasing every year: 9 companies in 2019, 12 companies in 2020, 23 companies in 2021, 35 companies in 2022, and 48 companies last year.

Last year, 13 new companies, including Korean Air (KRW 101.04 million), Daewoo Engineering & Construction (KRW 100 million), Hanon Systems (KRW 103.76 million), and Korea Zinc (KRW 102.49 million), were newly named, compared to 2019, four years ago. That number increased 5.3 times.

In particular, all of the top 10 companies in sales appeared to have joined the 100 million won club.

Samsung Electronics recorded an average employee annual salary of 120 million won, Hyundai Motors 117 million won, SK Corporation 119 million won, Kia 127 million won, and LG Electronics 106 million won.

SK Innovation (KRW 152 million), POSCO Holdings (KRW 149 million), Hyundai Mobis (KRW 123 million), HD Hyundai (KRW 145 million), LG Chem (KRW 100 million) The annual compensation for employees exceeded 100 million won (15 million won).

By corporate type, the average annual salary of employees of holding companies was higher than that of subsidiaries. This is interpreted to be because holding companies have fewer employees and a higher proportion of executives than subsidiaries.

For example, the average compensation of LG employees was 188 million won, followed by LG Electronics (106 million won), LG Energy Solution (123 million won), LG Display (80 million won), and LG Innotek (80 million won). Subsidiaries such as 2 million won) fell below this.

Also, in some places, such as Hite Jinro Holdings (304 million won) and Hite Jinro (113.65 million won), the average annual salary of employees of holding companies was nearly three times higher than that of subsidiaries.

Hite Jinro, a business company, has 3,066 employees, but Hite Jinro Holdings has only 14 employees. In addition, 3 out of 14 are unregistered executives, and the average salary of these 3 last year was 517 million won.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Bo-kyung and Kim A-ram = Among the top 100 companies in sales last year, the proportion of companies with an average annual salary of employees exceeding 100 million won was found to be close to half.

The number of large companies joining the ‘100 million won club’ has increased more than five-fold in four years, which is believed to be due to wage increases due to high inflation.

On the 24th, Yonhap News analyzed the business reports of the top 100 non-financial listed companies in sales, and found that a total of 48 companies had average employee annual salaries exceeding 100 million won last year.

This means that half of the employees at large companies receive compensation exceeding 100 million won per year.

The number of top 100 companies in sales joining the ‘100 million won club’, where the average annual salary of employees exceeds 100 million won, is increasing every year: 9 companies in 2019, 12 companies in 2020, 23 companies in 2021, 35 companies in 2022, and 48 companies last year.

Last year, 13 new companies, including Korean Air (KRW 101.04 million), Daewoo Engineering & Construction (KRW 100 million), Hanon Systems (KRW 103.76 million), and Korea Zinc (KRW 102.49 million), were newly named, compared to 2019, four years ago. That number increased 5.3 times.

In particular, all of the top 10 companies in sales appeared to have joined the 100 million won club.

Samsung Electronics recorded an average employee annual salary of 120 million won, Hyundai Motors 117 million won, SK Corporation 119 million won, Kia 127 million won, and LG Electronics 106 million won.

SK Innovation (KRW 152 million), POSCO Holdings (KRW 149 million), Hyundai Mobis (KRW 123 million), HD Hyundai (KRW 145 million), LG Chem (KRW 100 million) The annual compensation for employees exceeded 100 million won (15 million won).

By corporate type, the average annual salary of employees of holding companies was higher than that of subsidiaries. This is interpreted to be because holding companies have fewer employees and a higher proportion of executives than subsidiaries.

For example, the average compensation of LG employees was 188 million won, followed by LG Electronics (106 million won), LG Energy Solution (123 million won), LG Display (80 million won), and LG Innotek (80 million won). Subsidiaries such as 2 million won) fell below this.

Also, in some places, such as Hite Jinro Holdings (304 million won) and Hite Jinro (113.65 million won), the average annual salary of employees of holding companies was nearly three times higher than that of subsidiaries.

Hite Jinro, a business company, has 3,066 employees, but Hite Jinro Holdings has only 14 employees. In addition, 3 out of 14 are unregistered executives, and the average salary of these 3 last year was 517 million won.

S-Oil

By industry, energy companies such as oil and gas boasted relatively high employee salaries among the top 100 companies in sales.

Representative examples include S-Oil (KRW 173 million), SK Innovation (KRW 152 million), and E1 (KRW 148 million).

On the other hand, distribution and food companies such as E-Mart (48.5 million won), Lotte Shopping (55.1 million won), and Dongwon F&B (43 million won) recorded low annual salaries, only one-third of energy companies.

In addition to the top 100 companies in sales, there were many companies whose average salary per employee exceeded 100 million won last year.

SK Square (KRW 289 million), an investment company of SK Group with a high proportion of executives, and EcoPro Materials (KRW 212 million), a precursor to EcoPro Group, well exceeded KRW 200 million.

In addition, there were companies with annual salaries in the 100 million won range across various industries, including gaming companies NCSoft (107 million won) and Pearl Abyss (100.9 million won), and entertainment company Hive (100 million won).

Lee Sang-ho, head of the economics and industry division of the Korea Business Association, said, “It seems that the continued high inflation has influenced the increase in wages even though the economic growth rate was only 1.4% last year. In addition to wage increases, we must make more efforts to improve productivity.