Which sectors will be most affected by the minimum wage?

The Minimum Wage Determination Commission held its first meeting to determine the minimum wage to be applied in 2025.

The first day's meeting was chaired by the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Vedat Işıkhan. In the following days, the commission will meet under the chairmanship of the Director General of Labor, Mehmet Baş.

The members representing the workers in the commission will be led by TÜRK-İŞ Deputy Chairman Ramazan Ağar, and the members representing the employers will be led by the Secretary General of the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TİSK), Akansel Koç. The commission will complete its work at the end of four meetings.

The raise to be made to the minimum wage directly concerns approximately 7 million workers. However, millions of people working for wages close to or at the average wage are also indirectly affected by the minimum wage hike.

Workers and employers in certain sectors are found to be much more sensitive to the minimum wage than in other sectors.

According to research conducted by the Central Bank based on 2021 data, 73 percent of those working in the accommodation and food service sector work for the minimum wage or less.

According to the report in Ekonomim, the rate of those working for the minimum wage or less reaches 71.4 percent in construction, 70.5 percent in apparel, 69.7 percent in leather, 67.1 percent in food, and 64.4 percent in the wholesale and retail trade sector.

(Source: Which sectors are most affected by the minimum wage? - Ekonomim )

WHICH SECTORS ARE SENSITIVE TO THE MINIMUM WAGE?

According to the premium-based earnings reported to the Social Security Institution (SGK), it is observed that sensitivity to the minimum wage in these sectors continued in 2024.

As of September, there are 16.9 million insured workers in Turkey. In the retail trade sector, where 9 out of every 100 insured workers are employed (1.56 million people), average wages are only 21 percent above the minimum wage.

Considering that the wages of people in managerial positions are also included in the average wages in the sectors, it is seen that workers in this sector generally work for the minimum wage.

In building construction, one of the employment-heavy sectors where a total of 1.39 million workers are employed, the average wage of employees is 28 percent above the minimum wage.

The food and beverage service sector ranks third in terms of total employment. In the sector where a total of 877 thousand workers are employed, average wages are 31 percent above the minimum wage.

In the Central Bank's research, the accommodation and food sectors are shown together.

It is observed that average wages in the accommodation sector are 75 percent above the minimum wage. The accommodation sector is also among the employment-heavy sectors with 509 thousand workers.

Average wages in the apparel sector, where a total of 591 thousand workers are employed, are 21 percent above the minimum wage, while wages in the textile sector, where 385 thousand workers are employed, are 64 percent above the minimum wage.

Although the average wages of those working more than 10 days a month in domestic services and those working within the home are only 4 percent above the minimum wage, the number of people working in these sectors consists of 27 thousand and 31 thousand people, respectively.