Workers are having lunch at a cafeteria located in the basement of an office building in downtown Seoul. (Photo = Yonhap news)

 

[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Jisun] The number of workers receiving wages below the minimum wage increased by 250,000 compared to the previous year, surpassing 3 million.

On the 16th, the Korea Employers Federation released a report on the analysis of the rate below the minimum wage in 2023. According to the report, the number of workers who did not receive the legal minimum wage (9,620 won per hour) in the local labor market last year was 3,011,000, up 255,000 from a year earlier. The proportion of workers below the minimum wage compared to all workers also increased by 1 percentage point in a year to 13.7%. The reason is that the minimum wage increase rate, which is higher than prices and wages, has accumulated. Compared to 2001, the consumer price index and nominal wages in 2023 rose 69.8% and 159.2%, respectively, but the minimum wage rose 415.8%. Over the past 22 years, the minimum wage has increased 6 times and 2.6 times, respectively, compared to prices and wages. In particular, due to the uniform increase that overlooked the difference in solvency, there is a big difference in the minimum wage acceptance by industry. In agriculture, forestry and fisheries (43.1%) and lodging and restaurant businesses (37.3%), the rate was below the minimum wage, and the gap was up to 41.2% points from the lowest water and sewage waste companies (1.9%).

 

 

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