SK Hynix labor union members gathered for a rally at the company’s Cheongju campus on August 6.

The protest is part of an ongoing dispute with management over bonus payments.

SK Hynix, the world’s top memory maker, has been negotiating with its labor union about the size and structure of bonuses.

The union rejected a management proposal to raise the bonus cap to 1,700% of base salary.

It also opposed the plan to allocate half of any surplus as pensions or savings, instead demanding a larger share in cash.

The company is expected to report a 2025 operating profit of 37.7 trillion won (US$27 billion), according to Bloomberg analysts.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Labor disputes spreading across South Korea’s semiconductor giants

SK Hynix’s rally reflects a broader wave of labor unrest hitting South Korea’s chip sector.

Samsung Electronics experienced its first-ever strike in 55 years in 2024, also over pay and bonus disputes 1. The Samsung union eventually secured a 5.1% wage increase after extensive negotiations that lasted months 2.

This trend suggests that workers at major Korean semiconductor companies are becoming increasingly organized and willing to take collective action during a period of record industry profits.

Both companies’ disputes center on similar issues: transparency in bonus calculations and fair distribution of windfall profits from the AI boom driving semiconductor demand.

2️⃣ Record profits intensifying worker expectations for compensation

The timing of these labor disputes coincides with unprecedented profitability in the semiconductor industry.

SK Hynix is projected to achieve record operating profits of 37.7 trillion won ($27 billion) this year, while the global semiconductor industry is expected to reach $697 billion in sales by 2025 3.

Recent SK Hynix developments