Workers of small and mid-scale factories took home the biggest paycheck in 11 years after the hourly minimum wage was pushed up by 16.4 percent from the beginning of the year to 7,530 won ($7).

According to a study by The Korea Federation of SMEs, workers of 1,200 small and mid-sized manufacturing firms employing 10 or more and generating sales of more than 3 billion won ($2.7 million) a year earned 87,177 won per day on average as of March this year, up 11.7 percent from 78,014 won in the previous year.

It was the first double-digit growth since 2007 when the daily salary had grown 14.2 percent thanks to the 12.3 percent hike in minimum wage and introduction of the 40-hour working week.

“The average wage was boosted by the minimum wage increase as well as higher pay rise for best-paying jobs,” according to an official from the federation.

Computer-aided design (CAD) technicians earned the highest daily salary of 124,546 won, followed by electricians with 120,776 won and quality assurance managers for chemical engineering with 113,782 won, according to the data.

By Ahn Byung-joon and Choi Mira

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]