[Edaily Reporter Seong Joowon ] The Financial Times (FT) reported on the 9th that as SamsungElectronics and SK hynix post record-breaking earnings driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor boom—with performance bonuses in the hundreds of millions of won expected for their memory semiconductor employees—this “semiconductor boom” is shaking up Korea’s long-standing hierarchy of success and sparking controversy over “relative deprivation.”
SamsungElectronics recently announced that its second-quarter operating profit was preliminarily estimated at 89.4 trillion won. With both companies expected to post profits in the hundreds of billions of dollars this year, the average bonus per memory semiconductor employee is projected to be approximately 600 million won at SamsungElectronics(005930)and even higher at SK hynix(000660). This amount exceeds 10 times the average annual salary of Korean workers (50.6 million won, according to the Korea Employers Federation).

“My classmate earns hundreds of millions more than I do”… The sense of deprivation born of comparison

Kim Jin-soo, a memory semiconductor engineer at SamsungElectronics, said his income recently became a topic of discussion in a group chat with his college classmates. He explained that jokes like, “Don’t you earn more than the five of us combined?” were being exchanged.
A civil servant living in Sejong City told the FT, “I met a friend who is a professor, and while discussing bonuses at SamsungElectronics and SK hynix, I lamented how hard I had studied back in school.” He confided, “Seeing them receive such large sums of money simply because they were in the right place at the right time feels like a slap in the face.”
Experts explain this not as a simple income gap but as a sense of “relative deprivation.” Kwon Seok-jun, a lecturer at Sungkyunkwan University, said, “It’s not about ‘a billionaire having more money than me,’ but rather ‘a classmate on the same career track earning hundreds of millions of won more than me,’” adding, “The gap that arises among people in similar circumstances is far more corrosive.”

Semiconductor Performance Bonuses: SK hynix Leads the Way… SamsungElectronics Follows Suit

This performance bonus structure began last September when

SK hynix

agreed to distribute 10% of its annual operating profit to employees over the next 10 years.

SamsungElectronics

also reached a similar agreement last May following a strike warning from its labor union.
The Bank of Korea has warned of potential inflationary pressures resulting from this, and the Financial Times reported that real estate prices are surging in areas where many semiconductor employees reside.

Semiconductor Contract Programs Instead of Medical School… The Marriage Market Is Also in Turmoil

The yardstick for success is also changing. As competition for admission to “semiconductor contract programs”—which guarantee employment at SamsungElectronics or SK hynix immediately upon graduation—intensifies, the required grades for some programs have surpassed the average for Seoul National University’s science and engineering departments and are approaching the threshold for medical school admission.
Matchmaking agencies are also responding. Lee WOONGJIN, CEO of the matchmaking service Seonwoo, announced that they had “unusually” raised the “spouse occupation index” for SamsungElectronics employees to the same level as that of lawyers.
The sense of

deprivation created by comparison… Spreading to the non-semiconductor industry as well

Former psychology professor Hwang Sang-min analyzed, “Many Koreans ask not ‘What kind of life should I live?’ but ‘What is the best life?’” adding, “Once external standards are established, everyone tries to follow that trend.”
Former Professor Hwang explained that this sentiment has contributed to the spread of demands for profit-sharing to non-semiconductor companies such as Kakao(035720) and HyundaiMotor(005380). He said, “Feeling left behind even though you haven’t objectively suffered a loss—that is the essence of relative deprivation.”
One civil servant, who entered public service after passing a rigorous exam, remarked upon seeing that semiconductor engineers’ bonuses exceeded his 10 years’ worth of salary, “I try to think positively, but I feel jealous. I wonder what I’m even working for.”
Kim Jin-soo, the person at the center of this, believes the current boom will not last forever. He said, “People say, ‘This time is different,’ but even if the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has caused an unprecedented shortage of memory semiconductors, a downturn will eventually come.”