[Edaily Reporter KWON HYE-ME ] Amid expectations that employees of Samsung Electronics’ Device Solutions (DS) division—which oversees the company’s semiconductor business—will receive performance bonuses totaling hundreds of millions of won next year, a post has gone viral after a married couple working at Samsung Electronics calculated that their combined future performance bonuses are expected to exceed 3 billion won.

According to industry sources on the 9th, Samsung Electronics’ DS Division announced the detailed criteria and payment schedule for special management performance bonuses on the 7th. The special performance bonuses based on this year’s results are scheduled to be paid between late March and early April, following next year’s annual shareholders’ meeting.

The Samsung Electronics Branch of the Inter-Company Labor Union (Inter-Company Labor Union) also calculated its own estimates of expected payouts by business division based on the securities industry’s forecast of approximately 370 trillion won in operating profit for the DS Division this year. Based on an employee with an annual salary in the low 80 million won range, the pre-tax payment amount—including the existing Over-Profit Incentive (OPI)—is expected to be approximately 750 million won for the Memory Business Division, 530 million won for the Common Organization, and 240 million won for the System LSI and Foundry Business Divisions. However, these are the union’s own estimates, and the actual payment amounts may vary depending on this year’s DS Division performance and other factors.

The funding for the special management performance bonus amounts to 10.5% of the DS Division’s operating profit for this year. The remaining amount—after deducting taxes, insurance premiums, and donations (for those who choose to make them)—will be paid in the form of Samsung Electronics treasury stock. The stock price of Samsung Electronics as of the payment date will be applied. One-third of the shares received may be sold immediately, while the remaining one-third each will be subject to a one-year and two-year lock-up period, respectively.

The special management performance bonus will be paid on a pro-rata basis reflecting the actual period of employment, just like the existing OPI. Since income tax is withheld in advance based on the applicable tax rate, the amount refunded to each individual is expected to vary depending on the results of their year-end tax settlement.

Amid this, a post by an employee—introduced by Samsung Electronics as a married couple working at the company—has become a hot topic. On the 8th, a post by Mr. A, who verified his status as a Samsung Electronics employee, appeared on the anonymous workplace community “Blind.”

Mr. A stated, “Looking at the performance bonus, it seems we’ve seriously escaped the ranks of the working class,” adding, “I’m a man in my early 30s for whom joining this company was the greatest achievement of my life; I met my wife at work, and we became a DS couple.”

He continued, “The two of us saved up for five years and bought a house for 800 million won, which has now risen in value to 1.2 billion won,” adding, “We’re preparing to upgrade to a home in the high 1 billion won range using a company loan.” Mr. A further noted, “Calculating the performance bonuses we’ll receive together in the future, it comes to at least 3 billion won,” and added, “If things go as expected, we’ll likely be able to quit our jobs within five years.”

Meanwhile, the Special Management Performance Bonus is a system newly established this year following an agreement between Samsung Electronics’ labor and management in May. It was introduced separately while maintaining the existing OPI system and is characterized by the absence of a cap on the payout rate. Forty percent of the funds are allocated to the entire DS Division, while the remaining 60 percent are distributed differentially based on the performance of each business unit. The payout rate for shared support functions was set at 70 percent of the Memory Business Division’s payout rate.