Micron Facing Labor Dispute Over Performance-Based Bonuses, Echoing Samsung and SK Hynix

[Anchor]

The substantial performance-based bonuses offered by South Korean semiconductor companies are impacting overseas competitors. Employees at the Taiwan plant of U.S. chipmaker Micron have demanded bonuses on par with South Korean standards, warning of a strike if their demands are not met.

Reporter Jung Hye-jin has the details.

[Reporter]

U.S.-based Micron is the world's third-largest DRAM manufacturer, following Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Bolstered by the global AI boom, Micron's net profit surged 15-fold year-on-year during the three-month period starting in March, and its stock price has risen more than 500% over the past year.

This is why the labor union at Micron's Taiwan plant has demanded a share of operating profits, similar to the practices of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

The union at Micron's Taoyuan workplace reportedly demanded 15 percent of operating profit, a figure previously brought up by the Samsung Electronics labor union during negotiations with management in April.

Following negotiations, Samsung Electronics decided to use 10.5 percent of this year's semiconductor profits as a resource for performance-based bonuses, while SK Hynix allocated 10 percent.

South Korean corporate compensation systems have thus become a benchmark for labor-management negotiations across global semiconductor companies.

Micron management and the union are scheduled to hold further negotiations tomorrow, October 27, which the Taiwan government is closely monitoring.

[Lai Ching-te / President of Taiwan : Labor and management need to negotiate with a sincere and earnest attitude to reach the broadest possible consensus.]

Analysts suggest that if the labor dispute at Micron's Taiwan operations is prolonged or escalates into an actual strike, it could translate into indirect benefits for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

[Kim Yang-paeng / Senior Researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade : (From the perspective of client companies), they will try to secure products in greater quantities and more quickly. The current prices are likely to rise further, and (higher unit prices) naturally mean increased revenue for Samsung or SK Hynix even if they sell the same volume.]

At a time when the United States, China, and other countries around the world are competing to attract semiconductor talent, the fallout from South Korea-origin performance bonuses is spreading to unexpected places.

(Video by Park Hyun-chul | Video Editing by Jung Yong-hwa)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.