Among those who obtained national technical qualifications, the profession with the highest starting salary is a concrete engineer, earning 4.2 million won per month. A concrete engineer is a professional technician who can design, manufacture, construct, and manage concrete, the most important material in construction and civil engineering structures. They must understand the physical and chemical properties of concrete and be able to select construction methods to manage quality.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Industrial Manpower Corporation analyzed wage data for those who obtained national technical qualifications and disclosed the starting salary level on the 25th. The analysis included the average wages presented in the 2023 'Job 24' national technical qualifications preferred hiring announcements and the median wage of workers who were employed as of the end of July last year among those who obtained national technical qualifications in 2023.
The average suggested wages by national technical qualification grade are 3.28 million won for a licensed engineer, 2.83 million won for a master craftsman, 2.89 million won for an engineer, 2.83 million won for an industrial engineer, 2.61 million won for a functional engineer, and 2.28 million won for the service sector.
By field of work, the mining resources sector had the highest average wage at 3.67 million won. This was followed by the materials sector at 2.96 million won, the construction sector at 2.95 million won, and the safety management sector at 2.91 million won.
The actual starting median wage received by those who obtained qualifications was highest for licensed engineers at 4.31 million won per month. Following them were master craftsmen (2.99 million won), industrial engineers (2.70 million won), engineers (2.65 million won), functional engineers (2.22 million won), and service grade (2.15 million won).
By field of work, the starting median wage in the mining resources sector was highest at 3.40 million won. Safety management (2.90 million won), chemistry (2.80 million won), materials (2.75 million won), and machinery (2.62 million won) followed.
By category, among engineers, concrete engineers had the highest starting median wage at 4.20 million won per month. In the industrial engineer category, the gas industrial engineer earned 3.16 million won, while functional engineers made 3.14 million won, and in the service category, level 2 secretaries had the highest wage at 2.33 million won.
By age group, the highest wages belong to the youth (ages 19-34), with metal materials engineers and refining functional engineers both earning 3.40 million won. For the middle-aged (ages 35-54), the construction safety engineer earned 3.71 million won, while the elderly (ages 55 and older) earned 3.98 million won in architectural engineering.