"A 500 Million Won Housing Loan Like Samsung Electronics'" ... SK hynix Wage Talks Set for Next Month

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\r\n"We want housing loans of up to 500 million won, just like Samsung Electronics."
As Samsung Electronics recently wrapped up its wage negotiations, including performance bonuses for this year, after nearly five months, SK hynix's union, which last year ushered in the era of bonuses tied to a percentage of operating profit, is reportedly considering expanding its Housing Stability Loan Program to Samsung Electronics' level as a key issue ahead of next month's wage talks. Through this year's wage negotiations, Samsung Electronics decided to provide not only a special management performance bonus worth hundreds of millions of won, but also up to 500 million won in Housing Stability Fund loans at an annual interest rate of 1.5% to employees without homes. During the semiconductor boom, the two companies, the global memory semiconductor industry's top two players, appear to have been under constant pressure to outdo each other on bonuses and welfare benefits.
According to industry sources on the 31st, SK hynix labor and management are expected to begin wage negotiations for 2026 as early as June, and calls for expanded housing support are growing among employees, it was reported.
Samsung Electronics' recent move to create a special management performance bonus to match SK hynix's semiconductor division bonus levels, along with a 6.2% wage increase and a housing loan program offering up to 500 million won, is seen as having spurred SK hynix employees. Samsung Electronics plans to support home-owning employees and others with loans of up to 500 million won at a low annual interest rate of 1.5%, with repayment over 10 years or after a three-year grace period followed by 10 years of repayment. SK hynix currently operates a housing loan program of up to 100 million won. The interest rate is also 1.5% per year, the same as Samsung Electronics, but the loan limit is much lower. The repayment method is a one-year grace period followed by 15 years of equal principal payments. As a result, requests have been pouring in, such as, "Please benchmark Samsung's 500 million won housing loan program," "We should make the 500 million won loan expansion the main issue in negotiations," and "Let's go with a five-year grace period and a lower interest rate."
Industry observers say this year's talks are likely to focus on wage increases and improvements to welfare programs, as SK hynix largely resolved major issues through last year's overhaul of its bonus system. An industry official said, "Taking the recent labor-management agreement at Samsung Electronics as a precedent, expanded housing support, improved fuel and telecom subsidies, and wage increase rates are likely to emerge as the main bargaining issues in this year's negotiations between SK hynix labor and management, rather than the bonus system."
Previously, in last year's wage negotiations, SK hynix labor and management agreed to abolish the cap on its Profit Sharing (PS) system, a bonus scheme funded by 10% of operating profit, and to keep the arrangement in place for 10 years. Meanwhile, with SK hynix operating under a multiple-union system, the technical and office workers' union affiliated with the KCTU and the union representing regular employees at the Icheon and Cheongju plants under the FKTU are expected to negotiate wages separately.
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ehcho@fnnews.com Jo Eun-hyo Reporter