Average pay at Samsung estimated at W130m: report

The average annual compensation for Samsung Electronics’ employees and executives last year was over 130 million won ($99,700), data showed Wednesday.

According to market tracker Korea CXO Institute, the estimated annual salary that Samsung’s 113,604 employees and executives received in 2022 was between 133 million won and 138 million on average.

This was about 8 million won lower than the 144.6 million won posted in 2021, but about 10 million won higher than the 127 million won in 2020.

The average annual paycheck was calculated based on the tech giant’s recent audit report that stated Samsung spent some 15.8 trillion won on labor costs last year.

Based on the report, Samsung’s sales-to-labor cost ratio had decreased over the past three years, falling slightly from 8 percent in 2020 to 7.9 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively, in 2021 and 2022.

In a separate regulatory filing to DART, the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure board, Samsung said it paid a total of 22.5 billion won to its 11 registered board members last year.

Samsung’s six outside directors received some 700 million combined, while the five in-house board members were paid 4.36 billion won each on average, according to the market tracker’s own calculation.

Meanwhile, 12,957 workers newly joined Samsung, while 6,189 people left the company last year, based on their status of gaining and losing eligibility for the national pension.

March was the month when Samsung saw its greatest fluctuations in employee numbers, with more employees joining or leaving the company than in any other month.

Currently, Samsung is the only local conglomerate that holds open recruitment exams twice a year.

The number of National Pension Service subscribers at Samsung surpassed 110,000 people last year. It stood at a record high of 111,073 as of January this year.

“Amid a cautious outlook for Samsung’s earnings this year, labor cost management is likely to become a key task as the number of employees reaches an all-time high,” said Oh Il-sun, director of Korea CXO Institute.

Meanwhile, official data on Samsung’s employee numbers and average pay will be unveiled next month in its 2022 business report.