The view of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises in Yeouido, Seoul. /Courtesy of Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises

The average daily wage of production workers in small manufacturing companies in the first half of this year was 114,007 won, which is a 3% increase compared to the previous year.

The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises announced on the 27th the results of the ‘2025 first half wage survey by occupation in small manufacturing companies,’ conducted among 1,500 small manufacturers (with sales of 3 billion won and at least 10 regular employees).

The average daily wage range refers to the standard allowances of basic salary nature that employers pay to production workers as compensation, including base salary, hazard pay, production incentive pay, qualification pay, and bonuses.

This survey calculates the average amount converted to hourly wages based on basic salary and standard allowances paid to production workers by companies in March 2025, assuming an 8-hour workday. Workers employed for less than a month, daily workers (assistants, temporary workers, etc.), part-time workers, and industrial personnel were excluded from the survey.

In the first half of this year (as of March), the average daily wage for production workers in 129 occupations in small manufacturing companies was 114,007 won, representing a 3% increase from last year (110,684 won) and a 7.8% increase from the second half of 2023 (105,773 won).

The top and bottom 10 occupations in the investigation wages. /Courtesy of Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises

By major occupations, the average wage for simple labor workers was 90,830 won, which is a 0.8% increase compared to last year (90,085 won), while the daily wages for team leaders (135,398 won → 138,737 won) and component assemblers (98,387 won → 102,680 won) rose by 2.5% and 4.4%, respectively.

The average daily wage of the specialized technician managing and inspecting the quality of metal materials, known as a metal materials quality control technician, was the highest at 179,162 won, whereas the lowest was that of pastry, bread, and rice cake manufacturers at 85,030 won.

The published survey wages will be applied as the standard unit cost for labor costs in contracts involving the state starting from July 1.