Compared to Germany, which ranked last in annual working hours (1,371 hours), typical Korean employees worked 4.2 months more, and were paid 73 percent of the wages received by German workers ($44,925). (image: Flickr/ melburnian)
SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent OECD report revealed that South Koreans work an average of 2,112 hours per year, ranking second after Mexico (2,246 hours) among the 33 OECD member nations (data for Turkey non-inclusive), whereas Korea’s average yearly wage (purchasing power parity) ranked 22nd at $33,110.
In the 2016 OECD Employment Outlook, Korea far exceeded the OECD average annual work hours of 1,766. Considering a typical eight-hour work day, the Koreans worked 43 days more than their OECD counterparts, which implies an additional two months of work in a given year, assuming that the average employee works 22 days every month.
The average annual wage in Korea fell short of the OECD average of $41,253. Factoring in hours worked results in a wage of $15.67 per hour, also disappointing relative to the OECD average of $23.36.
Compared to Germany, which ranked last in annual working hours (1,371 hours), typical Korean employees worked 4.2 months more, and were paid 73 percent of the wages received by German workers ($44,925). Converting the figures to an hourly rate, Korean workers were paid about half the average hourly wage of Germans, which was $32.77.
Japan, despite also being known for its strenuous work hours, ranked 17th in average annual work hours (1,719), and yearly pay ranked 20th at $35,780, trouncing its western neighbor with net hourly wage of $20.81.
The top five OECD member nations in terms of wages were Luxemburg ($60,365), the United States ($58,714), Switzerland ($58,389), Norway ($50,908), and the Netherlands ($50,670). On the contrary, Mexicans were paid the least ($14,867), followed by Hungary ($19,999), Estonia ($21,564), the Czech Republic ($21,689), and Slovakia ($22,031).
Following Mexico and South Korea in working hours were Greece (2,042), Chile (1,988), and Poland (1,963), whereas Germany, the Netherlands (1,419), Norway (1,424), Denmark (1,457), and France (1,482) had the lowest working hours.
The countries with the highest hourly wages were Luxemburg ($40.06), Switzerland ($36.73), Norway ($35.75), the Netherlands ($35.71), and Denmark ($34.33).
By Joseph Shin (jss539@koreabizwire.com)
