SK Hynix, 1.5 times annual salary? Is this for real!

“Wow, I heard SK Hynix’s performance bonus is record-breaking?” This topic is really hot among my friends who work at companies these days. Indeed, SK Hynix decided to pay a whopping 2964% of the base salary as Excess Profit Sharing (PS) this year. To put this into perspective, an employee earning an annual salary of 100 million won would receive 148.2 million won just in performance bonuses. More bonus than salary, that’s truly insane, right? Including Productivity Incentive (PI), it totals 3264%, so it’s truly a ‘performance bonus feast’ in full swing.
Such a generous performance bonus was possible thanks to record-breaking performance in 2025. They achieved an enormous record of 97 trillion won in sales and 47 trillion won in operating profit. In particular, by expanding sales of not only HBM3E but also HBM4 to major customers like Nvidia, they reaped the greatest benefits of the semiconductor super cycle. Furthermore, they removed the existing ‘1000% of base salary’ cap and changed the standard to use 10% of annual operating profit as PS funds, which means there’s a high possibility that such huge bonuses will continue in the future! Oh, and they even operate a ‘shareholder participation program’ that gives additional bonuses if you choose company shares instead of cash, which I think is truly amazing.

LG Electronics, a clear ‘temperature difference’ by business unit!

While some companies like SK Hynix give generous bonuses company-wide, there are many cases like LG Electronics where performance bonuses vary significantly by business unit. LG Electronics reportedly paid a management performance bonus equivalent to 539% of the base salary to the Vehicle component Solutions (VS) business headquarters, which drove this year’s performance. The VS business headquarters recorded its highest-ever performance in 2025, exceeding 11 trillion won in sales and 500 billion won in operating profit. The ‘performance-based’ principle, which clearly rewards good performance, was properly applied.
However, not all business units were smiling like this. The Energy Solutions (ES) business headquarters received 215~445%, the Home Appliance & Air Solution (HS) business headquarters received 200~320%, but the Media & Entertainment Solutions (MS) business headquarters only received about 47%. With such a large difference in performance bonuses within the same company, isn’t it natural for business units to experience mixed fortunes? When I hear news like this, I can’t be the only one thinking, “Why did I come to this department…?”

Samsung Electronics, performance bonus negotiations in a dilemma

Samsung Electronics has a hot performance bonus issue for a different reason. The DS (Device Solutions) division, which is responsible for the semiconductor business, is expected to receive up to 47% of their annual salary as Excess Profit Incentive (OPI). Compared to 14% last year, this is more than a threefold jump, which employees can cheer about.
However, the problem is that negotiations with the labor union continue to face difficulties. The union is demanding to completely abolish the OPI cap (50% of annual salary) and to transparently change the performance bonus calculation criteria. The company proposed a special reward exceeding the existing cap, stating, “We will compensate at the industry’s highest level,” but the union is insisting on permanently changing the system itself. Due to this, negotiations have been suspended multiple times, and the possibility of a strike has even been mentioned, leading to concerns such as “departmental egoism.” A performance bonus that could be a huge hit if successful, but finding a mutually satisfactory agreement is truly difficult, isn’t it?

Performance bonus, a mirror of the polarization era

Ultimately, looking at the performance bonus issues of 2026, it feels like we’re seeing a cross-section of today’s era where the fortunes of companies and individuals are starkly divided based on performance. Industries that are doing well, like semiconductors or bio, make employees happy with generous bonuses, but those that aren’t can easily feel deprived. Especially as the gap in performance bonuses widens between large corporations, and even between business units within the same company, it seems that the era where ‘where you work’ truly matters has arrived. This is probably why everyone tries to ‘all-in’ to get into a good company.

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