Samsung chip employees to receive special stock bonuses in 2027
Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor employees will receive a new performance bonus in company shares next spring, with payouts tied to divisional profits and individual performance.
Samsung Electronics engineers as seen on a chip production line at the company's Hwaseong Campus in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi.SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS
Samsung Electronics will pay its chip division employees a special performance bonus entirely in company shares in late March or early April next year, after its annual shareholder meeting.
The company's Device Solutions (DS) division, which runs its semiconductor business, notified employees of the details on Wednesday afternoon, industry sources said.
Samsung's management and unions agreed to create the bonus in May. The pool is set at 10.5 percent of the DS division's operating profit. Forty percent goes to the whole division and the remaining 60 percent is split among business units according to their performance. There is no cap on payouts.
Using the market consensus forecast of about 370 trillion won ($276.3 billion) in operating profit for Samsung this year, the Samsung Electronics chapter of the Samsung Group United Union on Wednesday estimated how much an employee earning just over 80 million won a year would receive before tax, including the company's annual overall performance incentive.
The estimate came to about 750 million won for the memory business, about 530 million won for divisionwide support units and about 240 million won for the System LSI and Foundry businesses.
Payouts also vary by job level and performance review. For employees at CL4, a career level equivalent to general manager, multipliers of 1.4, 1.2, 1, 0.9 and 0.8 apply depending on their review.
Union members chant slogans at a rally held by Samsung Electronics unions' joint struggle headquarters at the company's Pyeongtaek Campus in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on April 23.JOINT PRESS CORPS
The after-tax portion of the special bonus will be paid entirely in Samsung Electronics treasury shares, valued at the average of three figures: the stock's volume-weighted average price over the week, the month and the two months before the payment date. Averages of 300,000 won, 310,000 won and 320,000 won, for instance, would set the price at 310,000 won.
The bonus plan will be put to a vote at the regular shareholder meeting in March next year, with payment set for late March or early April once it is approved. The bonus will count toward the 2027 tax year.
Samsung will withhold tax at a flat 49.5 percent, the top 45 percent income tax rate plus local income tax, to reduce the chance that employees owe more at the year-end tax settlement. The shares will be paid out of what is left after taxes, insurance premiums and donations are deducted.
Samsung Electronics' headquarters in GyeonggiYONHAP
Employees on the payroll as of Dec. 31 of this year are eligible, including some on leave, including parental and pregnancy leave. Payouts are calculated by adding up periods of active service and leave, with periods not worked deducted on a monthly basis.
Management and the unions will also run a joint donation program using the bonus. If DS employees voluntarily donate between 0.2 percent and 1 percent of their bonus, the company will match the amount one for one. Recipients and other details will be decided through further talks.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
