An increasing number of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are paying attention to the so-called “invisible wage”, which they believe can improve the working environment, lower high turnover rates, and improve productivity and labour relations, reports english.donga.com.

According to a recent survey compiled by job board Saramin and publication Donga-A Ilbo, respondents consider work environment and welfare as important as wage.

Eight out of 10 respondents said they are willing to work for small- and medium-sized enterprises. When asked “under what kind of conditions they are willing to work for an SME” (multiple answers allowed), “good work environment and high quality employee welfare even if the wage is low” topped the list with 49.2%, followed by “when the wage gap between the SME and large companies is narrow” (31.6%), and “when the SME has a high growth potential” (17.9%).

When asked “What SMEs should do to secure high-quality human resources” (multiple answers allowed), “work environment improvement” (59.6%), “Employee welfare improvement” (58.7%) were considered almost as important as “wage increase” (61.2%).

Experts say that the results reflect what the younger generation who tends to pursue personal satisfaction and quality of life values in their lives.

Shin Gwang-yeong, a professor of Sociology Department at Chung-Ang University, said, “To break people’s preference for large companies, improving company’s images and making a company that employees can be proud of is as important as narrowing the wage gap… People used to think that work in SMEs is ‘3D’ (difficulty, dangerous, and dirty), but SMEs have recently expanded investment in the `invisible wage’, which is a positive change.”