Samsung to pay memory-chip workers £310,000 average bonus

Samsung will pay memory-chip workers an average £310,000 (about 626 million won) bonus, largely in company stock, after unions approved a government-mediated profit-sharing agreement this month to avert planned strike action. Union reports showed 74% of the 62,616 workers who cast ballots backed the deal.

Under the pact, employees with a base annual salary of roughly 80 million won are set to receive about 626 million won in special payments, most delivered as Samsung stock. The company will allocate 10.5% of operating profits from its semiconductor division to fund the bonuses for memory-chip staff.

The agreement follows strong earnings in Samsung’s semiconductor business amid rising demand for memory chips driven by artificial intelligence workloads and a global shortage of supply. Samsung and SK Hynix together supply the majority of the world’s memory chips.

Negotiations involved several proposals, including one-off payments equal to 50% to 100% of salary while keeping existing caps on bonuses. The final deal preserves a mechanism for special payouts tied to semiconductor operating profit rather than permanently removing bonus caps.

Last year, SK Hynix removed a cap on bonus pay for a decade, allowing larger payouts that attracted some employees from Samsung and contributed to higher union membership at Samsung. Company leaders and union representatives described the agreement as an effort to resolve a long-running labor dispute and prevent industrial action.

Some observers inside Samsung expressed concern the package could create friction between workers in the semiconductor division and employees in other divisions, such as consumer electronics, who will not receive equivalent special bonuses.