An engineer identified as Lee, working in Samsung's semiconductor division, now clocks out immediately after work each day. Once a dedicated employee who frequently worked overtime to perfect his projects, Lee has recently been heading straight home to prepare job applications for Samsung's South Korean rival SK hynix, even sharing tips on crafting compelling personal statements with colleagues. Surprisingly, his own manager has encouraged the move. "Our team leader told us all to jump ship to SK hynix," Lee said.
Lee and his coworkers are frustrated by the massive $476,000 bonuses that SK hynix is set to distribute to its employees. These bonuses stem from record profits generated by high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips that power AI accelerators for Nvidia. This figure far exceeds the bonuses Samsung chip workers are expecting, triggering a wave of departures.
Key drivers of the talent shift
As the AI boom intensifies, semiconductor giants are locked in a fierce talent war, offering generous bonuses, aggressively recruiting, and even turning to the courts. The winner of this battle could shape the market for next-generation HBM chips, which are central to the AI surge. "Except for our two team leaders, our entire team of 30 people applied for positions at SK hynix," Lee said, referring to a July job posting. Despite working at Samsung for three years, Lee applied for entry-level roles at the rival company, as did a colleague with eight years of Samsung experience. Both were rejected but remain hopeful for interview invitations for more experienced positions.
All Samsung and SK hynix employees interviewed requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation from their employers. Samsung declined to comment, while SK hynix did not respond to a request for comment. In May, after lengthy negotiations with its union, Samsung agreed to distribute 10.5% of its semiconductor division's operating profit as annual bonuses to employees for 10 years, primarily in company stock with a three-year vesting period. Meanwhile, SK hynix had agreed last year to give 10% of its operating profit to employees, translating to $476,000 per worker this year, mainly in cash.
At Samsung, bonuses are tied to each division's profitability. Chip workers in its memory division, which produces HBM chips, could earn around $400,000 each this year. However, employees in Samsung's foundry division, which makes logic chips for companies like Tesla and Google and has been loss-making, will receive only about $135,000. Samsung has stated it cannot issue larger bonuses to underperforming divisions, sources told the media. Lee expressed disappointment with the outcome after months of union struggles, saying, "Even if Samsung develops well in the future, I don't think any benefits will come to me."
This disparity in bonuses has made SK hynix suddenly more attractive. A June survey by Samsung's union found that 81.5% of foundry division employees and nearly half of the entire semiconductor division want to leave within two years. In April, union leader Choi Seung-ho said over 200 union members had already moved to SK hynix in the previous four months. On anonymous forums like Blind, many Samsung engineers cite higher bonuses as their reason for seeking jobs at SK hynix.
Shifting dynamics in the HBM race
For decades, SK hynix lived in Samsung's shadow. The smaller memory maker was often overlooked by top engineering students. However, in 2019, Samsung scaled back its HBM team, betting the market would remain niche, while SK hynix doubled down on the technology. The subsequent AI boom dramatically boosted demand for HBM, which supplies AI chips with massive amounts of data at ultra-high speeds, pushing prices to unprecedented levels. Today, SK hynix leads the global HBM market, and Samsung is playing catch-up. Both companies surpassed $1 trillion in market capitalization in May, with SK hynix briefly surpassing Samsung as South Korea's most valuable company in June.
Anticipating continued surging demand for memory chips, semiconductor giants are investing heavily to expand operations. Last month, they announced plans to invest over $2 trillion by 2040, including a semiconductor "mega cluster" in Yongin, south of Seoul. SK hynix added 2,152 employees in the first half of 2026 alone and aims to double capacity within five years. Samsung plans to hire 60,000 workers over five years, primarily in its semiconductor division. Despite this, a talent shortage persists: the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association estimates the industry will need 304,000 workers by 2031, with a shortfall of 54,000.
Now, the two rivals are offering huge bonuses to retain and poach talent. "SK hynix seems to be targeting Samsung engineers in its hiring because Samsung is a competitor," said Baek, a manager at SK hynix. "According to my internal sources, our high performance bonuses are meant to lure talent from rivals." The courts have also become involved. In July, Samsung won an injunction preventing two former chip workers from working at SK hynix for 18 months, citing the protection of national core technology. "The semiconductor industry is fiercely competitive, so establishing a fair market order is necessary," the court ruled.
Talent loss threatens Samsung's key advantage in the HBM competition. "Samsung is the only memory maker in the world with a foundry business," said semiconductor expert Park Jun-young, a former Samsung employee. The latest HBM4 technology requires logic chips at the bottom of each memory stack to be manufactured using advanced processes only available at foundries. Samsung can handle this internally, while SK hynix outsources it to Taiwan's TSMC. "If Samsung's foundry engineers keep leaving... cooperation between the memory and foundry divisions could become difficult," Park noted. "SK hynix, which previously only had a memory team, is now hiring foundry engineers, allowing better HBM research."
Choi, a seven-year Samsung veteran, was once a star employee praised by managers. But now, he and his colleagues are busy applying for every job posting at SK hynix. "We share the latest job openings at SK hynix with each other," he said. "There's always more work to do beyond basic duties. But it feels pointless."
Micron workers consider strike
Meanwhile, in Taiwan, workers at Micron's Taoyuan plant held meetings to discuss a potential strike over unfair bonuses, according to a post on local social media platform Dcard. Employees convened to discuss bonus issues amid the AI wave and whether the current policy—equivalent to 200% of performance targets—is sufficient compared to competitors like Samsung. Reports suggest the union has held strike information sessions, though no official action has been confirmed. Screenshots from forums like Dcard and PTT indicate that Micron's union held two "strike information sessions" on July 30 in Taoyuan, aiming to address employee questions about the union and explore labor rights, including the right to strike.
Earlier this year, Samsung's South Korean employees made headlines for striking over low bonuses despite the AI boom. They argued that SK hynix's bonus policies starkly contrast with the thriving AI market, indicating Samsung's current bonuses are insufficient. As part of their demands, employees called for removing the bonus cap, distributing 15% of semiconductor operating profit, and raising annual salaries. After negotiations, management and the union agreed to bonuses equivalent to 10.5% of operating profit, without the previous 50% cap. In Taiwan, rumors suggest Micron's annual performance bonus has a 200% cap (maximum five months), with actual payouts reportedly around 2.6 months. Combined with slow salary growth, this has fueled a sense of relative deprivation among Taiwanese workers, prompting a surge in union membership.
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