SME Employee Benefits and Retirement Pension Programs in Korea
Compare the benefits packages at a large corporation with those at a small or midsize company, and the SME side rarely comes out ahead.
To help close that gap, the Korean government offers a range of benefit programs specifically for employees at small and midsize enterprises (SMEs), and Growth Co., Ltd. does everything it can to make sure our team members get the full value out of them.
Here’s a rundown of the main benefits available to SME employees in Korea.
Income tax reduction for young workers
Any young employee at an SME in Korea can take advantage of the youth income tax reduction program at year-end tax settlement.
This program reduces income tax for young workers employed at SMEs. If you’re between 15 and 34 years old and working at an SME, you can get a 90% income tax reduction (capped at ₩1.5 million per year) for 5 years from your date of hire.
How to apply
Submit the SME employee income tax reduction application to your company’s accounting contact yourself (our management support team requests this from eligible employees every year).
How it works
The accounting team forwards your statement to the tax office, and it’s automatically applied during year-end tax settlement.
Housing subscription — special allocation for SME employees
There’s also a benefit to help with buying your first home: the SME employee special allocation program. It gives eligible employees priority access when applying for public and private housing units of 85㎡ or smaller, whether for sale or lease.
It’s aimed at employees without their own home who have worked at SMEs for 5+ years total, or 3+ years continuously at the same SME. Details are announced regularly through the SME Human Resource Support Integrated System.
If you meet the eligibility requirements, you’ll need to check the announcements yourself on a regular basis. The program has existed since 2004, but the application process isn’t well known, so competition is often lower than you’d expect — it’s worth checking in regularly.
How to apply
Register on the SME Human Resource Support Integrated System > find the housing special-allocation announcement > select the housing you’re interested in > fill out and submit the application
Jeonse/monthly-rent deposit loan for young SME employees
If buying a home isn’t in the cards yet, there’s an excellent deposit-loan program for renters.
If you’re a young employee aged 19–34 at an SME, with combined household income (for couples) under ₩50 million a year, or under ₩35 million if you’re the sole earner, you can access this loan at a low 1.2% annual interest rate.
If you completed mandatory military service, you can apply up to age 39, depending on your service period.
How to apply
Find a home eligible for the young SME employee jeonse/monthly-rent deposit loan through a real estate agent > apply through a participating bank such as IBK
Youth Hope Savings Account (청년내일채움공제)
This might be the best savings benefit of them all.
If you apply within 6 months of being hired as a full-time employee, the employee, the company, and the government all contribute to a joint savings fund, which pays out as a lump-sum bonus at maturity.
In simple terms: think of it as a ₩4 million, 2-year savings plan where the employee contributes ₩160,000 a month for 20 months, then ₩200,000 a month for 4 months.
The company then adds another ₩4 million, and the government adds another ₩4 million on top of that, so at maturity you receive a total of ₩12 million plus interest.
Growth Co., Ltd. encourages every full-time employee to enroll in the Youth Hope Savings Account, and we walk new hires and employees converting to full-time status through the process.
How to apply
Apply on the Worknet Youth Savings website, then submit your subscription on the Youth Savings subscription website
Worker vacation support program
There’s also a policy that helps cover vacation costs. The employee contributes ₩200,000, the company adds ₩100,000, and the government adds another ₩100,000, for a total of ₩400,000 in points.
You can use those points to book package tours, condos, hotels, KTX high-speed rail tickets, flights, rental cars, and more. At Growth Co., Ltd., we check whether every new employee has applied for this program as part of onboarding, to make sure everyone gets vacation support.
How to apply
Companies apply as a group during the enrollment period (contact our management support team)
National Tomorrow Learning Card
Improving your skills takes consistent effort — and support. The National Tomorrow Learning Card program covers 60–100% of the training costs you choose, up to ₩3 million to ₩5 million per year.
At Growth Co., Ltd., this applies to some employees earning under ₩3 million a month, so we encourage eligible new hires to apply early and take full advantage of it.
How to apply
Visit your nearest employment center, or apply through Work24
How it works
Consult with an employment center, or register for a training course through HRD-Net