Banks’ Paychecks 3 Times Higher Than Average
By Kim Jae-won
Staff Reporter
Financial services firms such as banks and securities companies have cut salaries due to the economic recession, but their paychecks are still much higher than those of average salaried workers.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Thursday, those working for brokerage houses and banks earned 6.48 million won and 5.12 million won per month on average during the first nine months of this year, respectively.
The figures were 3.5 times and 2.8 times higher than the average salary of the nation’s workers. Monthly paychecks for full- and part-time salaried workers averaged 1.85 million won and 1.2 million won during the period, respectively.
Among banks, Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) ranked first with an average monthly paycheck of 5.82 million won, followed by Citibank Korea at 5.74 million, Kookmin Bank (4.86 million won), Woori Bank (4.68 million won) and Hana Bank (4 million won).
Banks slashed the wages of senior staff members and new workers last year, but the average monthly salary for the eight local banks decreased by only two percent, or 100,000 won, from 5.22 million won the previous year.
Financial firms’ workers also made more money than their counterparts in the manufacturing sector.
The average monthly salary at the eight major manufactures, including Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motors, was estimated at 4.88 million won during the January-to-September period, compared to the eight local lenders’ average of 5.12 million won.
Workers at banks also earned more money than those at life insurance companies and the five major non-life insurance companies, who received 4.76 million won and 4.68 million won a month, respectively.
``The high wages of financial firms are unfair because they get direct and indirect support from the government. They should not forget the lesson of the global financial crisis and enforce management efficiency,’’ a professor of Hansung University said.