As the size of performance bonuses at major domestic corporations was finalized, gaps by industry stood out. Semiconductor companies in a supercycle paid performance bonuses worth about 3,000% of base pay, while in the petrochemical industry there were cases with no performance bonuses at all.
According to the industry on the 22nd, in the petrochemical sector, which is undergoing a prolonged slump, cases with performance bonuses of 0 won are popping up.
Lotte Chemical could not pay performance bonuses this year, following last year, due to losses. LG Chem also reportedly did not pay performance bonuses due to the business environment and deteriorating operating results. Hanwha Solutions' petrochemicals institutional sector paid consolation money instead of performance bonuses.
The battery industry, hit by the electric vehicle "chasm," is in a similar situation. Samsung SDI and SK On, which posted full-year losses last year, did not pay performance bonuses.
LG Energy Solution set performance bonuses at 75%. That is a slight increase from the previous year (50%), but a significant reduction compared with 2023–2024, when employees received triple-digit bonuses.
Refiners also sharply cut performance bonuses as earnings slowed due to declines in oil prices and refining margins. GS Caltex decided to pay 25% of base annual salary as a performance bonus tied to management results and plans to pay it this month. That is higher than the previous payout rate of 12.5%, but lower than 50% in early 2023 and 40% in early 2024.
SK Innovation recently paid performance bonuses to employees based on business results and individual performance. The size of the payout was reportedly reduced from the previous year.
HD Hyundai Oilbank decided to pay 472% of base pay as a performance bonus at the end of this month, while S-Oil is reviewing the size of an incentive payment with a goal of paying in March.
By contrast, the semiconductor industry, which has entered a boom period, paid large performance bonuses. SK hynix paid a record-high 2,964% of base pay as a performance bonus. Samsung Electronics paid 47% of annual salary to the device solutions (DS) institutional sector, which handles the semiconductor business.