- Approximately 30,000 Samsung Electronics workers rallied in South Korea demanding a larger share of AI profits.
- The union demanded 15% of operating profits be distributed to employees as bonuses.
- Union members cited competitor SK hynix offering employees bonuses of nearly $900,000 as justification.
Some 30,000 Samsung Electronics workers crowded the streets near their semiconductor production hub in Hwaseong, South Korea, this week. The demand was straightforward: employees want a larger slice of the profits generated by the AI boom that has the company’s memory chip business surging. According to reports from DW and Euronews, the Samsung Electronics National Union is demanding 15% of operating profits be distributed to employees as bonuses.
The timing is strategic. Samsung’s domestic rival SK hynix recently announced eye-popping bonus figures reportedly reaching nearly $900,000 per employee, driven by its dominance in high-bandwidth memory chips used in AI accelerators. Samsung workers see that windfall and want their own. The union argues Samsung’s AI-driven financial rebound—including a 22-fold increase in first-quarter operating profit this year—justifies the demand.
The broader context involves a restructuring Samsung announced last year that eliminated its top-down annual salary increases, which employees say eroded their earnings. The company also cut performance-based pay earlier while still demanding overtime. Workers perceive a disconnect: Samsung demands more hours while cutting guaranteed wages, even as AI revenue reshapes the company’s financial picture.
The Memory King Is Playing Catch-Up
SK hynix has become Nvidia’s preferred supplier of HBM3E high-bandwidth memory, giving it a first-mover advantage in the AI chip supply chain. Samsung, historically the larger memory player, found itself scrambling to catch up. That dynamic—SK hynix making more on AI memory only because Samsung didn’t prioritize it—adds a layer of corporate grievance to the labor grievance. Samsung workers watched their competitors get rich on a market Samsung basically invented.
The union’s specific demands include: restoring the annual salary increase system, changing the performance-based pay structure, and granting a bonus equivalent to 15% of operating profit. The 30,000 rally participants represent a significant fraction of Samsung’s South Korean workforce, suggesting real leverage if they escalate to a full strike.
The labor action comes at a delicate moment for Samsung’s chip division. The company has been pouring money into catching SK hynix on HBM3E while also investing in cutting-edge foundry processes to challenge TSMC. Those investments drain capital precisely when employees want a share. The tension between reinvestment strategy and employee compensation isn’t unique to Samsung, but the scale of the AI profit surge makes it particularly acute.
Samsung Electronics has said it will continue communicating with the labor union and that current negotiations have been proceeding smoothly. Employees apparently disagree. Whether 15% of operating profit is realistic—or whether the union would settle for less—remains to be negotiated. One imagines the number was chosen precisely because it sounds unreasonable; labor negotiations rarely begin with what you’re actually willing to accept.
