"Absolute Non-Acceptance" Backlash… SK Hynix Faces Performance Bonus Controversy

[Anchor]

Following Samsung Electronics, which nearly went on strike, labor-management conflict over performance bonuses has now surfaced at SK Hynix. The management proposed paying part of the bonuses in company stock instead of cash, drawing strong opposition from the labor union.

Here is a report by reporter Jeong Seong-jin.

[Reporter]

SK Hynix labor and management, who agreed last year to pay 10 percent of operating profit as performance bonuses for 10 years without a cap, have entered a tug-of-war just one year later.

Under the current performance bonus structure, employees receive 80 percent in cash within the same year, and the remaining 20 percent is paid in cash split over two years. Employees can also choose to receive up to 50 percent of their bonuses in company stock.

However, management placed a proposal on this year's wage negotiation table to mandate the payment of a portion of the performance bonuses in company stock.

As Hynix's operating profit this year is projected to exceed 200 trillion won due to a record semiconductor boom, employees are expected to receive performance bonuses of over 600 million won per person.

This is interpreted as the result of several factors, including social controversy surrounding the scale of the bonuses, the burden of large-scale cash payouts, and management's decision to link employee compensation to corporate value.

Analysts suggest that another contributing factor was the pressure from similar demands spreading to other conglomerates—leading Samsung Electronics to the brink of a strike—alongside fierce backlash from shareholders.

[Choi Tae-won / SK Group Chairman (on the 15th): I believe our current stance is that one cannot become happy by breaking the happiness of stakeholders.]

With the union pushing back, stating it will never accept any changes that result in losses, it is reported that the differences in stance were not narrowed during the third round of negotiations on the 14th or yesterday's (the 21st) intensive working-level negotiations.

Amid the resurging controversy over performance bonuses, President Lee Jae-myung pointed out that the scope of subjects eligible for industrial disputes seems to be expanding too broadly.

[President Lee Jae-myung (yesterday, Cabinet Meeting): The issue of distributing a certain percentage of operating profit—is that really a legitimate subject for labor disputes? In my view, I lean more toward thinking it is not.]

Shareholder groups have also filed complaints with investigative agencies against Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon and the heads of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, arguing that performance bonuses are not subject to labor-management negotiations.

(Video Editing: Park Na-young, Design: Seo Seung-hyun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.