Samsung Chip Workers To Get $340,000 Average Bonus In AI Boom (qz.com) 26
Samsung is reportedly set to pay chip-division workers an average bonus of about $340,000 after reaching a tentative deal with its union, according to Bloomberg (paywalled). The deal ended a standoff that "could have cost the economy as much as 1 trillion won ($658 million) daily, with losses potentially multiplying to 100 trillion won ($68 billion) if in-progress semiconductor wafers were rendered unusable," reports Quartz. From the report: The agreement, subject to a union ratification vote running May 22 through May 27, calls for Samsung to direct 10.5% of operating profit into stock bonuses along with a separate 1.5% cash component, according to Bloomberg. The program runs for 10 years, contingent on the company meeting profit thresholds. One-third of the stock award can be liquidated right away, with the rest parceled out in installments across the next two years, Bloomberg reported. The first payout is expected in early 2027.
Not all workers will fare equally. As an illustration, Reuters cited a union source estimating that someone in the memory chip unit earning an 80-million-won base salary could take home roughly 626 million won in total bonuses this year. By comparison, workers at SK Hynix stand to collect upward of 700 million won should their employer post annual profit of 250 trillion won, Reuters calculated. Unlike at Samsung, SK Hynix employees are not limited to stock payouts and may instead opt for cash, Reuters reported.
Not all workers will fare equally. As an illustration, Reuters cited a union source estimating that someone in the memory chip unit earning an 80-million-won base salary could take home roughly 626 million won in total bonuses this year. By comparison, workers at SK Hynix stand to collect upward of 700 million won should their employer post annual profit of 250 trillion won, Reuters calculated. Unlike at Samsung, SK Hynix employees are not limited to stock payouts and may instead opt for cash, Reuters reported.
Scam (Score:3)
Re: Scam (Score:4, Interesting)
And during the downturn, they'll be accruing even more low priced shares that will soar on recovery. It's not even close to a scam. It's a measured compromise that ensures long term value for the union workers.
Re: (Score:3)
As if it isn't obvious how much it'll crash...
This is 10.5% of operating profits. ... 80/yr -> 626 bonus
Person making 80-million-won is expected to take home an additional 626-million-won.
Meanwhile, Samsung still has 89.5% of those operating profits. For that example above, that's 5,335.9-million-won they're keeping in profit.
That's how much they're overcharging for RAM right now. They can give out bonuses that are 7.8 times base salary, and that bonus is only 1/10th of the profit.
Put another way, they c
Re: (Score:2)
It depends on how much the crash corrects to the pre-AI days. Samsung's stock has increased by a factor of 6x since early last year on the back of this "only 10.5% of operating profits".
Re: (Score:1)
Perhaps, but what a great job the unions did negotiating even this much. A massive bonus, nearly 8 times annual salary, and even if the stock price does crash eventually, those workers still did extremely well out of it.
Re: (Score:2)
"When the AI bubble collapses, their stock will absolutely crash."
They are not adding capacity beyond the long term non-AI trends. Either a) AI bubble collapses and they'll go back to serving their normal customer mix, or b) the long-term trends will eventually justify adding capacity faster.
Sure, they're cashing out profits in the face of a windfall but *that's the reasonable thing to do in the face of a short term windfall*.
There has to be some acceptable action to take in thew face of a bubble induced by
Average is doing a lot of work there (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
I can't be the only one that noticed. Still, their unions got them the money. And it's still a lot of money. Just a reminder that divided we beg, United we Bargain.
I was thinking the same thing on the average. I'm assuming executives will get the biggest share of that, while the common workers will get, what, say 10k? Not that that's anything to sneeze at, but let's not pretend the average low-level person is getting 340k.
Re: Average is doing a lot of work there (Score:2)
That seems unlikely. Executives aren't generally covered by a union. Maybe Korean unions are different. But the whole point of a union is to operate adversarially against the executives.
Re: (Score:1)
You are "covered by the union" if you are member of the union.
whole point of a union is to operate adversarially against the executives.
Nope, against the owners of the company. And usually it is not about against but about sharing or work conditions.
Re: (Score:2)
No, it's likely the union members get a big chunk of it.
The reason they went on strike is SK Hynix (also Korean) gave the excess profits to their workers - to the tune of about half a million dollars each. Samsung executives refused to do same when S
Re: (Score:2)
My first thought was, "So three CEOs got $10B each and everyone else gets a $5 gift card and some pizza."
Of course, the bonuses are in the form of stocks that only a third of which can be sold right away, so they're not actually paying the workers a bonus just the promise of a bonus with the caveat that the bonus value is tied to the ephemeral value of the company months or years from now and not on the actual labor that was already performed or value already created.
=Smidge=
Re: (Score:1)
Are you silly or just stupid?
If they would get a bonus in cash: it would all be taxed right away.
If they get it in shares, it is taxed when the shares are sold, or not at all, if the shares are hold long enough.
No idea what your definition of a bonus is, though.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah because the executives were the ones on strike? No, this was a bonus for people working in the chip plants, a pre-agreed bonus for 607% of annual salary for all people working in the memory division. This was largely done because of the insane number of people jumping ship to SK Hynix.
Imagine This Happening in the USA (Score:5, Funny)
tech working really need to go union! (Score:2)
tech working really need to go union!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
If the Micron's 1 US memory factory had been in production already, it would have happened. A sudden 10x increase in margins and leverage will get any worker moving.
It will be interesting to see what happens at CXMT ... will Xi put the workers in tiger chairs for their bosses? Probably, but there is enough money on the line they might fight any way.
Re: (Score:2)
The Micron 1 gamma memory factory.