Samsung Workers Are Getting $370K Bonuses — And Other Korean Companies Are Panicking

TLDR

• Samsung Electronics reached a 10-year profit-sharing deal with its largest union, averting an 18-day strike by 48,000 workers.
• Around 78,000 employees in the semiconductor division are eligible for bonuses of up to $370,000 this year, tied to 10.5% of the chip division’s operating profit.
• The deal was driven by Samsung’s booming AI-related profits and pressure to close a bonus gap with rival SK Hynix.
• The agreement has alarmed South Korean business groups and sparked similar demands from unions at Kakao, LG Uplus, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.
• South Korea’s new Yellow Envelope Act, which took effect in March 2026, is expected to increase union activity and make it harder for companies to penalize striking workers.

Samsung workers at the company’s semiconductor division are set to receive annual bonuses of up to $370,000 after the company struck a landmark profit-sharing deal with its largest union. The agreement, approved by more than 73% of union members on May 27, ends the threat of a major industrial action.

The deal covers roughly 78,000 of Samsung’s 125,000 domestic employees. Bonuses will be paid mainly in shares, with 10.5% of the semiconductor division’s annual operating profit allocated to chip workers each year. An additional 1.5% will be paid in cash.

The 10-year agreement also removes a previous cap that limited special bonuses to 50% of a worker’s base salary. Some memory chip workers could receive total bonuses reaching $416,000 under the arrangement.

What Drove the Deal

Samsung agreed to the terms after months of pressure from union members who were frustrated by a growing bonus gap with rival chipmaker SK Hynix. Workers were reported to be leaving Samsung for SK Hynix in large numbers.

SK Hynix is reported to have allocated 10% of its operating profit to bonuses last year, with some chip workers receiving close to 3,000% of their base salary in bonus pay. Samsung’s deal is less generous, but it still marks the first major win for a Samsung union.

The timing is tied to Samsung’s strong financial performance. The global boom in AI infrastructure has driven up demand for memory chips, pushing profits sharply higher. Without the deal, 48,000 workers had been set to strike for 18 days.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung had expressed concern before the agreement was reached, noting that allocating a share of operating profit before taxes were paid was unusual, even by investor standards. Business groups echoed that concern.

Ripple Effects Across South Korean Industry

The deal is already sending shockwaves through South Korea’s corporate sector. Workers at internet giant Kakao and four of its subsidiaries have threatened to strike unless 13% to 15% of operating profit is set aside for bonuses.

Unions at telecoms company LG Uplus and shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have called for at least 30% of operating profit to be directed toward worker compensation. Wage talks at LG Uplus are underway.

At Samsung Biologics, workers staged a five-day strike earlier in May with demands that included a 20% profit share for bonuses. That dispute remains unresolved.

Legal experts say the Samsung deal breaks with established norms. Bonuses are typically paid from net income after taxes, not from operating profit. One law professor at Korea University described the deal as potentially “only the beginning” of a wider shift in how South Korean companies reward workers.

South Korea’s new Yellow Envelope Act, which came into effect in March 2026, adds further pressure on employers. The law expands protections for subcontractors and limits a company’s ability to take financial action against striking workers. On the day it took effect, over 81,600 subcontractor union members filed for wage negotiations with management.

Around 13% of South Korea’s workforce was unionised in 2024, slightly below the OECD average, but strikes occur far more frequently than in neighboring Japan.

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