The union of the giant Samsung Electronics has reached a possibly historic agreement for its workers. Photo: Reuters
Incredible profit sharing: Samsung will give each worker a 317,000 euro bonus
Union members and management at South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics have reached an agreement that gives workers at the chip unit high annual bonuses. With this, they prevented a large strike, which the South Korean authorities were also afraid of, reports the French news agency AFP.
According to the agreement, approximately 78,000 employees out of 125,000 domestic workers in the company will be entitled to an annual bonus of around 370,000 dollars (317,000 euros), which is based on an estimate of the giant’s annual profit from operations.
The awards for employees in the chip department will be tied to business goals, and a total of 10.5 percent of the unit’s operating profit should be allocated to them. They will be paid out in shares, and 1.5 percent in cash.
The agreement was approved by more than 73 percent of the members of the largest union at Samsung in an electronic vote within six days.
It was adopted almost at the last minute, and with it they prevented an 18-day strike, which caused great alarm in the country. It would have a significant impact on the South Korean economy.
Samsung is a major maker of memory chips that power AI data centers, and strong demand for these chips has boosted the company’s business.
In the first quarter, its operating profit jumped by around 750 percent year-on-year, and this month the market value of the giant exceeded 1,000 billion dollars (859,000 euros) for the first time in its history.
