How much do Samsung employees make? Monthly pay estimated at $8,000

Samsung Electronics headquarters in Seocho District, southern Seoul / Yonhap

The estimated average monthly pay for Samsung Electronics employees reached 12 million won ($7,966) in the first quarter of this year, analysis showed Tuesday, as the company's unionized workers moved closer to a possible strike over performance bonuses.

The Korea CXO Institute released its report, titled "Analysis of Estimated Average Employee Pay at Samsung Electronics in the First Quarter of 2026," on Tuesday, estimating the average first-quarter compensation per employee at roughly 36 million won.

This figure amounts to about 12 million won per month for the tech giant's 125,000 domestic employees, representing a more than 25 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Researchers derived the figures by analyzing the ratio of total employee salary to payroll-related expenses listed in the footnotes of Samsung Electronics' first-quarter standalone financial statements, which totaled 5.60 trillion won. Applying a 76 percent ratio to that expense yields a total employee salary of 4.26 trillion won, while an 85.5 percent ratio results in 4.79 trillion won.

The institute calculated the average monthly pay using National Pension Service enrollment data, which showed an average of 125,580 employees from January to March.

Oh Il-sun, head of the institute, noted the significant wage growth.

"Samsung Electronics' average salary in the first quarter of this year has already increased by more than 25 percent from last year, and even excluding performance-based bonuses, annual compensation is highly likely to exceed 140 million won," Oh said. "If performance-based bonuses are reflected, annual compensation will rise further."

From left, Yeo Myung-koo, head of the People Team at Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions division; Park Su-keun, chairman of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC); and Choi Seung-ho, head of the Samsung Electronics Labor Union, attend a postmediation meeting at the NLRC in Sejong, Tuesday, two days before unionized workers plan to launch a general strike. Joint Press Corps

Samsung Electronics' union and management continued their second round of post-mediation talks for a second day on Tuesday. If the talks collapse, the union plans to launch an 18-day strike starting May 21.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.