Semiconductor Boom Drives Down Parental Leave Rates at Samsung and SK Hynix

The semiconductor super cycle is even lowering parental leave rates.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the parental leave rate at Samsung Electronics in the first half of this year stood at 35.5 percent of employees with children.

This figure is 0.7 percentage points lower compared to the same period last year.

For male employees, the rate dropped from 12.4 percent in the first half of last year to 11.2 percent in the first half of this year, while female employees saw a sharper decline from 94.3 percent to 88.2 percent.

SK Hynix was no different.

In the first half of this year, the parental leave rate at SK Hynix was 3.2 percent among employees with children in elementary school or younger, a decrease of 0.8 percentage points compared to 4.0 percent in the same period last year.

For male employees, the rate fell from 1.3 percent in the first half of last year to 0.7 percent in the first half of this year, and for female employees, it declined from 10.1 percent to 8.9 percent over the same period.

This is the first time that the parental leave rates at both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have declined simultaneously.

Around 2024, when the so-called work-life balance disclosure system—which requires companies to publicly disclose parental leave and flexible work arrangements—was introduced, Samsung Electronics' parental leave rate steadily increased to 34.5 percent in 2022, 37.4 percent in 2023, and 39.5 percent in 2024.

While the rate dipped slightly to 38.1 percent in 2025, it fell once again in the first half of this year.

SK Hynix saw its rate rise to 7.8 percent in 2022 and 8.2 percent in 2023, but it dropped to 6.6 percent in 2024, rebounded slightly to 6.9 percent in 2025, and declined again in the first half of this year.

This trend at both companies is interpreted as a choice by employees to avoid missing out on record-breaking performance bonuses.

Labor and management at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have previously agreed to pay performance bonuses without a cap, amounting to 10 percent and 10.5 percent of operating profit, respectively.

With Samsung Electronics' operating profit projected to exceed 350 trillion won this year and performance bonuses for its semiconductor division expected to reach up to 600 million won, the parental leave rate is expected to drop further in the second half of this year.

As for SK Hynix, its parental leave rate exceeded 8 percent to reach a record high in 2023 when it recorded an operating loss close to 8 trillion won, but it fell to the 6 percent range for two consecutive years in 2024 and 2025 as operating profits rebounded sharply to the 23 trillion won and 47 trillion won levels.

Reported by Jo Gi-ho | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.