SK hynix to Pay 60% of Bonuses in Stock...Samsung Electronics Expands Its 'Stock Compensation Model'

[Financial News] SK hynix labor and management reached a tentative agreement on the 2025 wage and collective bargaining agreements on the 20th, under which at least 60% of the total performance-based bonus will be paid in company stock instead of the current all-cash system. Following Samsung Electronics' decision in May to pay 100% of its special performance bonus in company stock, tied to operating profit, SK hynix has also decided to introduce a stock-based payout model. The move is seen as setting a new benchmark for South Korea's industrial sector, where disputes over performance bonuses linked to operating profit have been intensifying.
On the 20th, SK hynix labor and management drafted a tentative agreement for this year's wage and collective bargaining agreements, including a 6.3% wage increase and a plan to pay 60% of the profit-sharing bonus, or PS, in company stock. The union held an emergency temporary delegates' meeting that afternoon and explained the '2026 tentative agreement on wage and collective bargaining agreements' to members. The package includes the wage increase, a revision to the PS payment method, and an expansion of in-house welfare points. The biggest change is the PS payout structure.
Under the new plan, only 40% of the PS will be paid in cash in the year it is earned, while the remaining 60% will be paid in company stock. Of the stock portion, 40% can be sold in the same year, and the remaining 20% will be deferred. Employees may also choose to receive up to 100% of the bonus in stock.
Based on market estimates that SK hynix could post about 25 trillion won in operating profit this year, employees are expected to secure an average PS of about 700 million won per person. Under the tentative agreement, 60% of that amount, or roughly 420 million won, would be paid in stock.
Last year, SK hynix labor and management abolished the cap on PS payments and established a bonus system that uses 10% of the previous year's operating profit as the funding source. The system was set to remain in place for 10 years. At the time, they agreed to pay 80% of the PS in cash in the same year and defer the remaining 20% in cash over two years, at 10% each year. But as operating profit rose far more than expected, the company revised the plan after just one year to combine stock and cash, citing concerns over a heavier cash burden and the need to curb talent outflow through restrictions on stock sales for a certain period.
Because the payout method has changed again just one year after labor and management agreed to keep the operating-profit-linked bonus system in place for 10 years, opposition from employees may continue. There could also be criticism that the actual value of the compensation may fluctuate depending on the stock price. The recent launch of an integrated union reflects some of that dissatisfaction. The union plans to explain the tentative agreement and then hold a delegate vote soon to finalize the deal.

[email protected] Jung Won-il, Jo Eun-hyo Reporter