Samsung Electronics Employees’ Average Salary Decreases by 11% Compared to Last Year

An average of $90,000
Union members surpass 20,000

It has been reported that the average annual salary of Samsung Electronics employees has decreased by about 11% compared to the previous year.

According to Samsung Electronics’ annual business report released on the 12th, the average salary of Samsung Electronics employees in 2023 was $90,000, down about 11% from the previous year’s average salary of $101,500.

The downturn in the memory semiconductor market last year, which led to a long-term downturn, is believed to have caused Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor (DS) division to incur a deficit of about $11.2 billion. As a result, the DS division’s bonus was set at 0% of the salary.

The average salary of non-registered executives increased slightly from $528,000 in the previous year to $545,000 in 2023. The increase is due to the inclusion of executives who received long-term performance bonuses from 2020 to 2022 when their performance was good.

Samsung Electronics Advisor Kim Ki Nam received the highest compensation. Last year, Advisor Kim received a salary of $1.26 million, a bonus of $1.83 million, and a severance pay of $9.76 million, for a total compensation of $13 million.

Samsung Electronics’ operating profit fell 84.9% from $32.6 billion in 2022 to $4.9 billion last year. The sharp decline in operating profit is also due to the downturn in Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business. However, it is expected to recover as it has been showing good performance since the fourth quarter of last year.

Meanwhile, as the performance bonus for semiconductor division employees was set at 0, the number of union members of the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union exceeded 20,000 for the first time. After the issue of a 0% performance bonus, it doubled in just over two months. The National Samsung Electronics Union is also pushing for a merger with other unions.

The National Samsung Electronics Union, established five years ago, announced on the 12th that it had 20,027 members as of 4 p.m.

At the end of last December, the union announced that it had achieved 10,000 members, and the number of members doubled in about two months. This union has approximately one-sixth of Samsung Electronics’ employees, approximately 120,000.

The industry saw an exponential increase in union membership due to employees’ growing dissatisfaction with the performance bonus issue last year. Union participation surged after the end of last December’s announcement that the DS division’s bonus payment rate was 0%.

In January, Kyung Kye Hyun, head of the Samsung Electronics DS division, directly explained the issue at a Samsung Electronics employee communication event. Still, it was difficult to quell the employees’ dissatisfaction. The steady increase in union membership suggests it won’t be easy to quell dissatisfaction.

A DS division official said, “There is still dissatisfaction among semiconductor division employees about the performance bonus,” the atmosphere to join the union is widespread. They are especially known to have deepened their dissatisfaction after hearing the news of SK Hynix’s encouragement money.

SK Hynix also experienced a similar downturn as Samsung Electronics’ DS division, but it is known to have given 15 company shares and $1,500 for encouragement per person.

Samsung Electronics argues they should pay 200% of the basic salary as encouragement money. Samsung Electronics refused, stating there should be a reason for paying encouragement money and that it is time to find competitiveness first.

The burden on Samsung Electronics is growing as the union gains strength due to employees’ dissatisfaction with performance bonuses. Attention is being paid to Samsung Electronics’ moves as the union and management negotiate on many issues centered on wage increases and encouragement bonuses.