[THE INVESTOR] It costs a company an average of 4.33 million won ($3,852) a month to hire an employee, including the wage, major insurance coverage and other allowances, the Employment and Labor Ministry’s research showed Sunday.

In the fiscal year of 2015, the average monthly labor cost spent by 3,388 surveyed companies with at least 10 employees surged on-year by 2.4 percent.

This included direct costs, which refers to wage and indirect expenses, as well as indirect costs which includes severance pay, expenses for four major insurance policies -- industrial accident compensation, employment, pension and health -- and other extra allowances such as transportation, communication and child education subsidies.

The increase rate of labor cost had dwindled between 2011 and 2013, but it increased slightly by 2.6 percent in 2014.

The monthly average for direct labor costs reached 3.79 million won, marking a 3.4 percent rise from the year before.

There also remained a big gap in labor expenses between companies with at least 300 employees and those with less than 300 workers.

Bigger companies paid an average of 5.99 million won a month, while smaller businesses spent an average of 3.87 million won.


(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)