[E-Daily, Reporter SOYEON KIM ] With SK hynix management and the labor union having reached a tentative agreement to pay performance bonuses in the form of 60% stock and 40% cash, attention is now focused on how union members will vote. The union held briefing sessions for each shift over the weekend to persuade members and will conduct a vote on the proposal on the 24th and 25th. As the size of the performance bonuses has increased due to record-breaking earnings, discussions on the compensation method are expected to remain a major topic of discussion next year, following this year.

According to industry sources on the 23rd, the SK hynix production workers’ union will hold a vote on the tentative agreement for the 2026 wage and collective bargaining agreement (CBA) among all union members on the 24th and 25th. The office workers’ union will also conclude its vote early this week.

If more than half of the eligible union members vote and a majority of those voters approve the agreement, the tentative agreement reached by management and the union will be passed. If the tentative agreement from even one union is rejected, that union will have to re-negotiate with management. The unions are holding briefings for each shift through the weekend, focusing on securing votes of approval from their members. Previously, the unions had to re-negotiate with management after the tentative agreements for 2023 and 2024 were consecutively rejected in votes.

The core of this tentative agreement is that 40% of the performance-based bonus—the Profit Sharing (PS)—will be paid in cash, while the remaining 60% will be paid in company stock. Of the stock portion, 40% can be sold in the same year, and the remaining 20% will be distributed over two years at a rate of 10% per year.

Specifically for the 2026 PS, which will be paid out early next year, employees have the option to receive the 40% of shares that are eligible for sale in the same year as cash. Accordingly, next year, employees can receive up to 80% of their PS in cash, depending on their choice. SK hynix explained, “We have refined the agreement to align the interests of all stakeholders more balancedly, reflecting the concept that employees grow alongside shareholders.”

Assuming SK hynix’s annual operating profit this year is 250 trillion won, the funding for the PS program is estimated at 25 trillion won. Based on this, the average PS per employee is expected to be around 700 million won, of which approximately 420 million won will be received in the form of company stock.

The wage increase rate was set at 6.3 percent, which is 0.1 percentage points higher than that of its competitor, SamsungElectronics.

Opinions within the company are divided regarding this tentative agreement. It is reported that there is considerable dissatisfaction stemming from the fact that the existing 10-year performance-based bonus system, established just last year, has been changed after only one year. Last year, SK hynix management and labor agreed to abolish the cap on performance bonuses (PS), which was funded by 10% of operating profit, and to maintain the system for 10 years. Under that agreement, 80% of the PS was to be paid in cash in the current year, while the remaining 20% was to be deferred and paid in cash over two years at a rate of 10% annually.

Although it did not participate in this year’s wage and collective bargaining negotiations, the SK hynix Unified Labor Union—which is dissatisfied with this agreement—is expected to devise a response. The number of members in the Unified Labor Union has surpassed 3,400.

The industry views this positively, noting that management and labor reached a compromise without external mediation and without resorting to extreme measures such as a strike. This indicates that management and labor have found a certain balance regarding the method of performance bonus payment. The strengthening of welfare benefits—including an increase in in-house welfare points and the establishment and expansion of systems for congratulatory and condolence payments as well as funeral support—has also been met with positive reactions from employees.

Even if the agreement is approved, the embers of the controversy surrounding performance-based bonuses have not been completely extinguished. The proportion of stock-based compensation could increase in the future, and the actual amount of compensation could vary depending on stock price fluctuations.