Workers at Samsung Electronics memory chip unit will receive average bonuses near £310,000 each under a new profit-sharing agreement driven by rising AI demand for semiconductors. Potential industrial action was prevented on Wednesday when unions at the leading memory chip producer reported that 74 percent of 62,616 participating employees approved the package. Mediated by South Korean authorities, the arrangement reserves 10.5 percent of operating profits from the semiconductor business for special payments to chip staff, concluding a five-month disagreement. The outcome may nevertheless generate internal friction because staff in other units such as consumer electronics will obtain considerably smaller amounts. Reports indicate that an employee with an 80 million won base salary could receive roughly 626 million won, equivalent to about $416,000 or £310,000, paid mostly in shares. Average payouts are estimated near 513 million won or $340,000. Samsung semiconductor operations employ approximately 78,000 people across memory products, contract manufacturing and client chip design. Strong demand from AI data centers has produced shortages of memory components, enabling suppliers to raise prices and increase earnings. The resulting gains have lifted market values of SK Hynix and Micron above one trillion dollars for the first time. SK Hynix shares climbed more than 9 percent on Wednesday to push capitalization past $1 trillion, while Micron stock advanced 19 percent the previous day after analysts raised targets. These movements helped the Nasdaq reach a record and supported peaks in South Korea’s KOSPI and broader Asia-Pacific indices outside Japan. Observers described the activity as investors expanding attention from processors to memory devices required for handling large AI data volumes.
