It was found that the Samsung Electronics union demanded 15% of operating profit as performance bonuses. With projections that Samsung Electronics' annual operating profit this year could reach up to 300 trillion won, the union is effectively asking for about 45 trillion won as bonuses.
As the company posted its highest-ever results in the first quarter this year, the union appears to have raised its demand from 10% to 15% of operating profit for performance bonuses. This amounts to about four times the approximately 11.1 trillion won in dividends that Samsung Electronics paid to 4 million shareholders last year, and investor backlash is expected to be fierce. The 15% of operating profit demanded by the union is also larger than the 37.7 trillion won that Samsung Electronics invested in research and development (R&D) last year.
According to the industry on the 12th, after Samsung Electronics released its preliminary first-quarter results on the 7th, the union argued that the company should assume annual semiconductor operating profit of 270 trillion won and set aside 40.5 trillion won—15% of that—as the performance bonus pool.
With labor-management talks having broken down, the union side raised its demands further. This exceeds the 10% of operating profit that SK hynix set as its performance bonus pool. According to the union's calculation, if 15% of operating profit is applied, employees in Samsung Electronics' memory division would receive an average of 620 million won per person before tax as a performance bonus.
Amid intensifying global competition in artificial intelligence (AI) chips, there is criticism that the union's demands are unreasonable. As this is a time to focus on facility investment, research and development (R&D), and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to secure a commanding lead, some say compromise is needed at a reasonable level.
Industry voices argue that Samsung Electronics should allocate resources to prepare for future growth engines. For example, SK hynix acquired Intel's NAND unit in 2020 for about 10.3 trillion won, and they say funds should be used for M&A of competitive semiconductor or AI corporations like this. While it is important to share results with employees who contributed to record performance, there is growing concern that the union's excessive demands could hinder the company's long-term growth.
Internal equity issues are also being raised. About 95% of this year's annual operating profit is expected to come from the Device Solutions (DS) division, which handles the semiconductor business. In contrast, operating profit in the DX division, which handles home appliances, TVs, and smartphones, is projected to be around 12 trillion won, raising concerns about relative deprivation over performance bonuses.