Large firms' wages 61.9 pct more than those of SMEs

The average worker's wage at large companies in South Korea is 61.9 percent higher than that paid by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), data showed Wednesday.

The average annual wage of large firms amounted to 64.19 million won (US$54,310.86) in 2014, more than the 39.66 million won for SMEs, according to the data on 2,000 local companies compiled by market researcher CXO Institute.

The overall average annual salary for the companies came to 44.98 million won, according to the data.

Companies whose annual sales topped 1 trillion won paid an average of 64.19 million won to its employees, while those with sales of between 500 billion won and 1 trillion won paid out 54.13 million won, the data showed.

SMEs that earned less than 100 billion won in sales per year gave out paychecks of 39.66 million won on average.

Companies that paid an average of over 100 million won to its workers accounted for 0.2 percent of the batch, while those with annual paychecks of over 90 million won and 80 million won took up 0.5 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

By industry, the average salary of oil refiners was the highest at 76.18 million won, according to the data. Builders trailed with 50.61 million won, followed by chemical firms at 50.41 million won and utility companies at 49.14 million won.