Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, spoke with employees about happiness at work and performance bonuses, noting that "just because the performance bonus increases by 5000% doesn't mean people will be happy." His comments come in the context of ongoing conflicts between labor and management at SK hynix over the payment rate of performance bonuses.
According to the business community on the 21st, Chairman Chey said during a Q&A session with employees at the 'Seulgi SK Life' corner of the 2nd Forum held at the SK Serin Building in Jung-gu, Seoul, that he had heard, "(some employees) are not satisfied even with a 1700% performance bonus."
The labor and management of SK hynix have engaged in wage negotiations ten times from May to July but have yet to find a point of agreement. SK hynix reported an operating profit of over 23 trillion won last year, and as a result, the management paid a performance bonus equivalent to 1500% of the basic salary and 30 shares of company stock earlier this year. The management proposed increasing the performance bonus rate from 1000% to 1700%, but the union claims that according to the labor-management agreement from 2021, 10% of the operating profit should be paid as a performance bonus.
Chairman Chey stated, "We must prepare for and design how to accept happiness together," adding, "Happiness is not something someone else creates; it must grow larger when created by myself and us together." He continued, "Everyone's happiness is different, and each person's standards are also different, but there are commonalities within that, and we pursue the common happiness that everyone in SK can feel together."