Work & employment
Employers, working conditions, and pay. Questions in this section were answered by respondents currently working.
₩60–70M
median total annual compensation band, before tax
77 working respondents
Starts with 7 cross-tabs, or jump to the 17 individual answers ↓
Cross-tab
Most of the pay climb happens at year seven
Median compensation by years of professional experience
The median band runs ₩40–50M in the first three years and ₩50–60M at four to six years, then jumps two bands to ₩80–90M from seven years on. Ten years and up adds one more band, ₩90–100M. The climb is not evenly spread across a career: one step is worth more than the rest put together.
Median total compensation
0–3 years
4–6 years
7–9 years
10+ years
Every answer is one step, so a position is a rank on the scale rather than a point on a linear axis.
Experience here means years worked, not title or scope. The seven-to-nine bucket is the smallest at twelve pay answers and its middle half runs from ₩60–70M to ₩120–140M, so read the size of the jump loosely.
Groups differ in more than the split shown, so read these as descriptions, not causes.
Cross-tab
Who you work for moves pay more than how long you have worked
Median compensation by employer type
At Korean companies the median band is ₩50–60M. At a foreign company with no Korea office it is ₩100–120M, and at the Korean arm of a foreign company ₩90–100M. The gap survives inside the international group on its own, where Korean companies still sit at ₩50–60M against ₩120–140M for the eleven working remotely for a foreign employer, so it is not just a difference in who works where.
Median total compensation
Korean company
Foreign, remote
Foreign subsidiary
Every answer is one step, so a position is a rank on the scale rather than a point on a linear axis.
Remote roles for overseas employers pay in foreign currency and tend to attract more experienced developers, so part of this gap is seniority and exchange rate rather than employer generosity.
2 groups with fewer than 8 answers are not shown (7 respondents).
Groups differ in more than the split shown, so read these as descriptions, not causes.
Cross-tab
The visa that ties you to one employer pays the least
Median compensation by residency status
F-6 marriage visa holders report the highest median band at ₩100–120M, followed by Korean citizens at ₩80–90M and F-2 long-term residents at ₩50–60M. E-7 sponsored workers sit lowest at ₩40–50M, and E-7 is the status most tightly bound to a single sponsoring employer.
Median total compensation
Korean citizen
F-2 Long-term resident
F-6 Marriage
E-7 Specialized work
Every answer is one step, so a position is a rank on the scale rather than a point on a linear axis.
Residency status also tracks time in Korea and seniority, so this is not the price of a visa on its own. Statuses with too few pay answers are not shown.
6 groups with fewer than 8 answers are not shown (34 respondents).
The groups shown cover 79% of everyone who answered.
Groups differ in more than the split shown, so read these as descriptions, not causes.
Cross-tab
The best-paid developers are the ones in meetings
Median compensation by hours spent in meetings
Developers spending five to ten hours a week in meetings report a median of ₩100–120M, against ₩60–70M at one to five hours and ₩50–60M for those barely in meetings at all. Meetings are not the cause: they are what seniority looks like on a calendar, and the pay follows the seniority.
Median total compensation
0–1
1–5
5–10
Every answer is one step, so a position is a rank on the scale rather than a point on a linear axis.
The top group is thirteen answers and its middle half runs from ₩50–60M to ₩120–140M, so read the direction rather than the gap. The heaviest meeting loads, ten hours a week and up, had too few answers to show.
2 groups with fewer than 8 answers are not shown (7 respondents).
Groups differ in more than the split shown, so read these as descriptions, not causes.
Cross-tab
One in four at a Korean employer reports discrimination
Discrimination reported at work, by employer type
26% of respondents at Korean companies and 25% at Korean subsidiaries report discrimination at work on at least one ground, most often nationality or race. Among the nineteen working remotely for a foreign employer, none did.
Report discrimination on any ground
Zero out of nineteen is not proof of none: with that many answers the true rate could still be as high as one in seven. Seven people at Korean companies chose not to answer this question, so that 26% is a floor rather than an estimate. Remote work for a foreign employer also removes most of the daily contact where this happens, which is a difference in exposure as much as in employers.
2 groups with fewer than 8 answers are not shown (7 respondents).
Groups differ in more than the split shown, so read these as descriptions, not causes.
Cross-tab
The pay gap comes with a satisfaction gap, and a language trade
Job satisfaction and Korean at work, by employer type
38% of people at Korean companies call themselves satisfied or very satisfied, against 68% at fully remote foreign employers and 67% at foreign subsidiaries. Language runs the other way: 58% use Korean frequently or always at Korean subsidiaries and 49% at Korean companies, but only 5% at fully remote foreign employers.
Satisfied or very satisfied
Use Korean frequently or always
Each group here is between 12 and 39 answers, so every share carries a margin between 10 and 28 points. The direction is clear, the exact size is not.
2 groups with fewer than 8 answers are not shown (7 respondents).
Groups differ in more than the split shown, so read these as descriptions, not causes.
Cross-tab
A degree shows up in whether you are working, not in what you earn
Work and pay by highest qualification
Among people who are either working or job-hunting, 86% of master's holders are in work against 70% of bachelor's holders, a gap wide enough to survive this sample. Pay tells a different story: ₩70–80M against ₩60–70M, one band apart, with middle halves that overlap almost entirely. On this evidence the degree helps you get hired rather than paid.
In work rather than job-hunting
Median total compensation
Master's
Bachelor's
No qualification
Every answer is one step, so a position is a rank on the scale rather than a point on a linear axis.
Master's holders here are also older and more experienced, and an E-7 sponsorship generally expects a degree, so this is not the effect of the diploma alone. Students are excluded, since studying is not job-hunting. The comparison most people want, degree against no degree, cannot be made from this sample: ten respondents hold no formal qualification and three of them answered on pay.
4 groups with fewer than 8 answers are not shown (14 respondents).
The groups shown cover 88% of everyone who answered.
Groups differ in more than the split shown, so read these as descriptions, not causes.
Every question in this chapter
Korean with colleagues
77 answered
English with colleagues
77 answered
Hours worked per week
77 answered
Where people work
77 answered · multiple answers allowed
Searching for a new job
77 answered
Discrimination experienced at work
77 answered · multiple answers allowed
Job satisfaction
77 answered
Employer type
77 answered
Employer tier
77 answered
Industry
77 answered · multiple answers allowed
Meeting hours per week
77 answered
Remote-work policy
77 answered
Employer size worldwide
77 answered
Total annual compensation (KRW, before tax)
77 answered
Income vs last year
77 answered
Engineering practices
76 answered · multiple answers allowed
How people found their job in Korea
75 answered