By Kwanwoo Jun
Samsung Electronics' unionized workers on Wednesday approved a bonus-pay deal reached last week with management--an agreement that averted a strike at the world's largest memory-chip maker and holds out the prospect of six-figure payouts for workers in its memory-chip division.
The deal comes amid soaring revenue and profit at the chip maker and its global peers, driven by demand for chips from big tech companies investing heavily in artificial intelligence. That has fueled a sharp run-up in Samsung's share price and market value, emboldening its workers to push for the unusually large bonuses.
Under the terms of the deal, reviewed by Dow Jones Newswires, Samsung has agreed to allocate 10.5% of its semiconductor division's operating profit to special bonuses for employees in that segment, contingent on hitting certain profitability benchmarks.
If those benchmarks are hit, employees in Samsung's most profitable memory-chip making division could be eligible for special bonuses of between 600 million and 650 million won, equivalent to about $398,000 to $430,000, each, as early as next year, according to a senior Samsung official.
Samsung said actual payouts for each employee would be difficult to estimate because they depend on the chip division's future operating profit. The payouts could also vary depending on the performance of subdivisions of the semiconductor division.
The bonuses would be paid out in shares if the chip division achieves annual operating profit of 200 trillion won, equivalent to $132.69 billion, during the 2026-28 period, and 100 trillion won during 2029-35, according to the deal terms.
The 11th-hour deal over worker bonuses reached last week put an end to months of labor unrest that had raised fears of possible disruptions to the global chip supply chain.
Samsung's management and union leaders struck the deal in negotiations mediated by South Korea's labor minister late last Wednesday, just hours before industrial action at the company was set to begin.
KB Securities, in a note last week after the deal was reached, said it expects Samsung's operating profit to surge 19-fold from a year earlier to around 90 trillion won just for the second quarter, after hitting 57 trillion won in the first quarter, fueled by stronger-than-expected memory-chip prices and brisk demand from big tech companies. KB expects Samsung's annual operating profit to reach 374 trillion won in 2026 and 497 trillion won in 2027.
Earlier this year, Samsung joined the $1 trillion market cap club. On Wednesday, South Korean peer SK Hynix crossed the same threshold. U.S. competitor Micron finished the trading day in the same league on Tuesday.
Samsung's union said in a statement Wednesday that 73.7% of participating union members voted in favor of the agreement in the ballot. The deal required approval from more than half of participating voters.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 27, 2026 12:19 ET (16:19 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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