Samsung Electronics memory bonus 600%; foundry up to 100%

Details of Samsung Electronics’ proposal to set different performance bonus rates for each business division in wage negotiations were made public on 16. The published meeting minutes listed separate proposed rates for the memory semiconductor division and the non-memory semiconductor businesses. The proposal was made during wage negotiations.

A performance bonus in the 600% range was proposed for the memory semiconductor division. The article headline and report gave the proposed bonus rate for the memory division as 600%. This means the highest rate was proposed for the memory division within Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business.

A performance bonus of up to 100% was proposed for the non-memory semiconductor businesses. For the foundry business, a proposed bonus in the range of 50∼100% was reported. Foundry is a business that manufactures semiconductors on behalf of customers based on their designs.

This information was reportedly confirmed in the minutes of Samsung Electronics’ labor-management wage negotiations. The minutes distinguish the proposed bonus rates by business division. The bonus proposals are an agenda item in the wage negotiation process and are separate from any final decision on payments.

Samsung Electronics operates both memory semiconductor and non-memory semiconductor businesses. Memory semiconductors include DRAM and NAND flash. Non-memory semiconductors include the foundry and system semiconductor businesses.

This proposal shows that bonus criteria are not the same even within the semiconductor business division. Based on the disclosed information, there is a significant difference between the proposed rates for the memory and foundry divisions. The final agreement will be determined by the outcome of labor-management negotiations.