Average daily wage in small-business manufacturing tops 120,000 won; chemical quality engineers earn most

The average surveyed daily wage for production workers at small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises has surpassed 120,000 won ($78). The newly announced figures will serve as the standard labor cost unit price for government contract manufacturing cost calculations starting July 1.

The Korea Federation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises said Monday that its "First-Half 2026 Wage Survey by Occupation for Small and Medium-sized Manufacturers," conducted across 1,500 small and medium-sized manufacturers, found the average daily wage for production workers stood at 120,610 won as of March this year.

That figure is up 5.2 percent from 114,682 won recorded in August last year, and 5.8 percent higher than the 114,007 won recorded in March last year. The survey covered small and medium-sized manufacturers with annual sales of at least 3 billion won ($1.95 million) and 10 or more full-time employees, spanning 129 occupational categories.

Among major occupations, general laborers saw their average daily wage rise 5.6 percent to 95,767 won from 90,694 won in August last year. Foremen earned 147,122 won, up 5.3 percent from 139,712 won, while parts assemblers earned 110,036 won, up 4.5 percent from 105,323 won.

Wage gaps across occupations were wide. Chemical engineering quality control specialists topped the list with an average daily wage of 174,040 won, followed by electrical, electronic and mechanical quality control specialists at 166,228 won, metal and materials quality control specialists at 164,926 won, and CAD designers at 160,065 won.

At the lower end, footwear manufacturing machine operators recorded the lowest average daily wage among surveyed occupations at 87,798 won. Wire workers earned 89,755 won, sewing technicians 90,475 won, and cleaning workers 91,181 won.

The federation said the published wage figures "will be applied as the standard labor cost unit price for government contracts from July 1, 2026."