Samsung Memory Staff on Low 80 Million Won Pay Could Get Near 750 Million Won Pretax, Union Estimates

Samsung Electronics will pay a new special performance bonus to employees of its semiconductor division in late March or early April 2027, after the plan goes to a vote at the company's annual shareholders meeting in March, and the money will arrive as stock, not cash. The schedule came in internal details that the chip division announced on the afternoon of the 7th, one day before Samsung reported a record preliminary operating profit of 107.40 trillion won ($80.2 billion) for the third quarter. The about 750 million won figure for memory staff on a salary in the low 80 million won range is a union estimate, not a company figure, and it is pretax and combines two separate payouts. For Metaintro readers who work in chips or want to, the useful detail is in the terms, covering who qualifies, how much tax comes out first, and how much of the stock can actually be sold.

What Did Samsung Tell Its Chip Workers on October 7?

The notice set out the payout schedule, eligibility rules and payment terms for a bonus that was agreed in May. Samsung and its labor union agreed in May to introduce the program for the DS division as part of wage talks, and it sits separate from the existing OPI. The bargaining that produced the deal ended after a strike standoff in May.

The payment is due in late March or early April 2027, after the plan is put to a vote, and the bonus will be submitted as an agenda item at next March's annual general meeting of shareholders. The agenda item is interpreted as a move to formalize the procedure to ensure payment can be made after the shareholders' meeting, rather than out of concern that the proposal might actually be rejected, Edaily reported. In May, the Korea Shareholder Action Headquarters, a shareholder group, argued that the operating profit-linked bonus structure could violate Korea's Commercial Act and that it was legally invalid without approval through a shareholders' meeting resolution.

The bonus will be treated as income for the 2027 tax year, which matches the year it is actually paid.

How Is the Bonus Pool Built?

The pool will be equivalent to 10.5 percent of the DS division's 2026 operating profit, with no separate cap on payouts. It is split in two. Forty percent will be distributed across the DS division, while the remaining 60 percent will be allocated among business units according to performance, and the units named include Memory, System LSI, Foundry, and R&D.

For each worker, the payout is an employee's base amount multiplied by the applicable bonus rate. That rate will be based on the organization within the DS division where the employee spent the longest period in 2026, and the business unit-specific rates will be announced in February.

One team is left out. The Compound Semiconductor Solutions business team will be excluded.

The pool has a history worth knowing. Under the May agreement, the DS framework combined Samsung's existing overall performance incentive, set at 1.5 percent, with a newly created bonus, which together were to create a bonus pool equivalent to roughly 12 percent of operating profit. In May the new bonus was described as tied to 10.5 percent of a separately agreed performance metric, and the October notice set the pool at 10.5 percent of the DS division's 2026 operating profit. The framework was to remain in place for 10 years if the semiconductor division meets minimum operating profit thresholds. During the talks, labor and management publicly disclosed terms under which the 10.5 percent bonus would be paid annually from 2026 to 2028 if the DS division achieves 200 trillion won in operating profit, while the threshold would fall to 100 trillion won starting in 2029.

The May agreement also postponed penalties for loss-making business units by one year. The same deal included a 6.2 percent wage increase, consisting of a 4.1 percent base-pay raise and a 2.1 percent performance-based increase.

Where Does the 750 Million Won Figure Come From?

It comes from the union, not from Samsung. The Samsung Electronics Labor Union, the largest union at the tech giant with 52,935 members, produced its own estimates by business unit. Those estimates rest on securities firms' projection that the DS division will post about 370 trillion won ($276 billion) in operating profit this year.

For an employee on a salary in the low 80 million won range, the union estimates the combined pretax payout from the existing incentive and the new bonus could reach about the amounts below.

• Memory business, about 750 million won
• Shared functions, 530 million won
• System LSI chip design and foundry, 240 million won

Three qualifiers travel with that list. The amount combines the existing overall performance incentive scheme and the new bonus, it is a combined pretax payout, and actual payouts may vary depending on the DS division's final results for the year. The existing incentive inside that total is the OPI, which is capped at 50% of annual salary.

Payment will be made entirely in Samsung Electronics shares after taxes, insurance premiums and any voluntary donations are deducted.

How Much Tax Comes Out Before the Shares Arrive?

Samsung will withhold 49.5 percent upfront, comprising a 45 percent income tax rate and local income tax equivalent to 10 percent of the income tax. It is a flat rate of 49.5%, comprising the top income tax rate of 45% plus local income tax.

Korea's top marginal income tax rate is 45 percent, and local income tax is assessed at a rate of 10% of the PIT rates.

The flat withholding is meant to reduce the likelihood of additional tax being due during the year-end tax settlement. Shares are paid only after taxes, insurance premiums and any voluntary donations are deducted. The actual payment amount is expected to decrease after taxes and other deductions.

How Much of the Stock Can Workers Sell Right Away?

Only a third. One-third of the shares can be sold immediately. The remaining two-thirds will be split evenly, with one portion locked up for one year and the other for two years. The same lock-up was part of the May deal, under which one-third of the shares can be sold immediately, while the remaining portions will be locked up for one year and two years, respectively.

Locked shares move with the market, and Samsung shares dropped 0.7% Thursday morning even after a record quarter. Shares come from the company's treasury stock.

Who Qualifies, and Who Is Left Out?

Payroll on the last day of the year is the test. Employees on the payroll as of Dec. 31, 2026, will generally qualify, as will certain employees on leave, including for childcare or pregnancy, and eligibility will take into account periods of employment and leave during the year. Employees on leave will receive a pro-rated payment based on their period of service.

Those excluded include these groups.

• Employees who actually worked for one month or less in 2026, except those on qualifying leave
• Employees on nonqualifying leave or under suspension as of Dec. 31
• Probationary employees who joined on or after Thursday, the day after the notice
• Others whose contracts make them ineligible for the payout

What Is the Donation Option?

The notice came with a voluntary giving scheme. DS staff may voluntarily donate between 0.2 percent and 1 percent of their payout, with the company matching their contributions one-for-one. Where the money goes is not settled, and specific details, such as the recipient organizations and operational procedures, will be further discussed between management and labor.

The union leadership has said it will go first. Union chief Choi Seung-ho said the union chair and executive members will take the lead by participating in the donation pledge, and that the union plans to encourage members to join.

How Big Was Samsung's Record Quarter, and Why Does It Matter for the Pool?

The pool is a share of the DS division's 2026 operating profit, so the quarterly numbers matter to it. Samsung's own guidance put consolidated operating profit at approximately 107.40 trillion Korean won for the third quarter, with consolidated sales of approximately 195 trillion Korean won. Operating profit was 12.17 trillion won in the third quarter of 2025.

If finalized when Samsung releases full results on Oct. 29, the figures would represent year-on-year increases of 782.5 percent in operating profit. Third-quarter operating profit surpassed brokerages' consensus estimate of 106.64 trillion won, though sales fell slightly short of the 200.64 trillion won forecast. It was the first time Samsung's quarterly operating profit topped 100 trillion won, and the Korea Times called Samsung the first Korean company to surpass 100 trillion won in a single quarter.

Samsung does not provide earnings estimates by business division in its preliminary guidance, and a breakdown by business division is expected later this month. In the second quarter, Foundry earnings improved significantly prior to incentive-related provisions. The latest official DS number is from the second quarter, when the DS Division posted KRW 127.5 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 89.2 trillion in operating profit.

Samsung has delivered a record profit and still fallen short of expectations, which tells you just how demanding the AI trade has become, Josh Gilbert, lead analyst for APAC at eToro, said, according to the CNBC earnings report.

How Did Samsung's Unions Vote on the Chip-Only Bonus in May?

The bonus covers chip staff only. The wage agreement centers on a special management performance bonus offered exclusively to employees in the chip-making Device Solutions (DS) division. The May vote results differed by union. At the Samsung Electronics Labor Union, 44,606 members voted in favor, an approval rate of 80.6 percent, while at the National Samsung Electronics Union the approval rate was 21.1 percent. The combined approval rate stood at 73.7 percent.

The difference in voting is largely attributed to DS benefiting more than other divisions from the bonus performance distribution. Under the May deal, workers in the Device eXperience division were set to receive Samsung Electronics shares worth 6 million won ($4,000), and that gap with chip staff set off a bonus revolt among Samsung factory workers. The Device Experience division is expected to post an operating loss for the second consecutive quarter.

What This Means for Chip Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

The headline figure is real as a union estimate, but it is not a take-home number. Start with the 49.5 percent withheld upfront, then the insurance deduction, then the rule that one-third of the shares can be sold immediately and the rest is locked for one or two years.

The unit you work in shapes the payout. In the union's own math, the same salary maps to a combined pretax payout of about 750 million won in the memory business and 240 million won in the System LSI chip design and foundry businesses. The rates that settle this will be announced in February, so treat any offer-stage promise about the bonus as a range, not a sum.

Here is how to use this if you work in semiconductors or plan to.

• Read the eligibility date. Payroll on Dec. 31, 2026 is the main test, and probationary employees who joined on or after Thursday, the day after the notice, are excluded, so a start date can matter for the 2026 pool.
• Ask how pay is split. For any chip offer, in Korea or elsewhere, ask what share of pay is base salary, what is profit-linked, and whether it is paid in cash or stock. The Samsung bonus is paid entirely in Samsung Electronics shares after taxes.
• Price in the lock-up. Two-thirds of the shares are split evenly, with one portion locked up for one year and the other for two years.
• Watch the full results. Samsung's full earnings results are expected to include a breakdown by business division, due later this month.

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People Also Asked

Q: When will Samsung pay the chip division special bonus?

A: Samsung plans to pay it in late March or early April 2027, after the plan is put to a vote at the company's annual shareholders meeting in March, and it is treated as income for the 2027 tax year.

Q: Will Samsung memory workers really get 750 million won?

A: That figure is a union estimate for a salary in the low 80 million won range, and it combines the existing overall performance incentive scheme and the new bonus before tax. It assumes about 370 trillion won in DS operating profit, and actual payouts may vary with final results.

Q: Is the Samsung bonus paid in cash?

A: No, it is paid entirely in Samsung Electronics shares after taxes, insurance premiums and any voluntary donations are deducted, with 49.5 percent withheld upfront and only one-third of the shares sellable immediately.

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