The Bank of Korea has named performance bonuses at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix as a risk to the country's inflationary stability, warning in a price-stability report on June 17th that payouts worth several hundred thousand dollars per worker could push wages higher across the wider economy. …
… The government-mediated agreement, struck last week to avert an 18-day general strike by 48,000 workers, allocates 10.5% of Samsung's semiconductor division operating profit as stock-based bonuses, plus an additional 1.5% in cash. …
… Jobs at Samsung and SK Hynix were already coveted in South Korea. However, with potential bonuses that can exceed the lifetime earnings of workers in other sectors, competition for roles is sky-high. The bonuses are also reshaping decision-making within the companies themselves. …
… Workers say the company's historical practice of returning roughly 13% of retained earnings as employee bonuses has been cut, even as profits climb, and they’re pointing to Samsung’s recent union deal as a template for action. …
… The workers argue that even though Samsung is much larger, their bonuses only equate to less than 30% than what SK hynix offers to its people. …
Internal Samsung wage negotiation transcripts obtained by Reuters show the company proposed bonuses of 607% of annual salary for its memory chip division in March, while offering workers in its loss-making foundry and System LSI businesses between 50% and 100%. …
… A recent report that SK hynix workers can expect guaranteed bonuses of $477,000 this year and almost $900,000 next year has also brought worker compensation into sharp focus. …
… Dissatisfaction grew among workers as Samsung’s semiconductor profits surged on AI-driven memory demand, with workers comparing their payouts to those at rival SK Hynix, which has offered more generous bonus structures. …
… Under the tentative deal , employees in Samsung's memory division stand to receive bonuses of roughly 600 million won ~$400,000 . In contrast, workers in the DX Device eXperience division, which covers smartphones, TVs, and home appliances, would receive approximately 6 million won ~$4,000 . …
… Workers had compared their compensation unfavorably to rival SK hynix, which offered more generous bonuses last year. But while the strike threat is over, the resentment it exposed isn’t; only about 21% of Samsung's smaller union, which represents mostly non-chip staff, approved the agreement. …