Samsung chip workers are leaving for rival SK Hynix, driven by a massive bonus gap between the two companies. SK Hynix is paying its employees approximately $476,000 each—funded by record profits from producing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in Nvidia's AI accelerators. In contrast, Samsung's memory division workers receive roughly $400,000, while foundry division employees get only about $135,000 due to poor performance in that unit.
Workers at Samsung report widespread demoralization. One employee named Lee, who has worked at Samsung for three years, applied for an entry-level position at SK Hynix alongside coworkers, including one with eight years of experience. "Except for our two team leads, my entire team [of 30 people] just applied to SK Hynix," Lee said. Both Lee and his colleague were rejected for the initial posting but remain hopeful for future openings.
The talent exodus is tied to differing compensation structures. SK Hynix agreed last year to distribute 10% of operating profits to employees, mostly in cash. Samsung, after union negotiations, reached a deal in May to pay 10.5% of semiconductor division profits annually for 10 years—but primarily in company stock vesting over three years. Samsung declined to comment on the situation.