Samsung Electronics' new bonus distribution model may exacerbate wage polarization between industries

格隆汇2026/05/25 11:34

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Glonghui, May 25th | According to Yonhap News Agency, Samsung Electronics’ labor and management have reached a preliminary agreement on salary negotiations, providing an opportunity for the profit-based performance bonus allocation model to become more widespread in the industry. At the same time, concerns have been raised that polarization in the South Korean labor market may further intensify. On May 20th, Samsung Electronics’ labor and management signed a preliminary agreement on the performance bonus plan, agreeing to establish a new special performance bonus for the Device Solutions (DS) division, which is responsible for the semiconductor business. The company will allocate 10.5% of its future operating profit over the next 10 years as the funding source for this special performance bonus, with no upper limit set. Under the new system, if Samsung Electronics achieves an annual operating profit of 300 trillion KRW, employees in the storage chip business division under the DS department could receive up to 550 million KRW each as a performance bonus. Combined with the existing year-end bonus system (OPI), employees could receive up to 600 million KRW in bonuses, with a pre-tax annual salary of around 700 million KRW (approximately 3.13 million RMB). This annual salary scale is about seven times the average annual salary of large enterprise employees in South Korea. The issue is that as companies like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix introduce the model of allocating “N% of operating profit” as a performance bonus, the wage gap between companies could widen further. Apart from prosperous industries such as semiconductors, shipbuilding, defense, and electrical equipment, most industries find it difficult to adopt the above bonus distribution model. Lee Byung-hoon, honorary professor of sociology at Chung-Ang University, pointed out that after Samsung Electronics’ labor negotiations, there is growing demand across industries for management to pay additional performance bonuses, which could exacerbate the polarization phenomenon in the labor market.

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Latest Update October 9 – The Financial Times reported on Thursday that Starbucks (SBUX.O) has explored a potential acquisition of Chipotle (CMG.N). This move would bring CEO Brian Niccol back to the Mexican burrito chain he once led. Starbucks declined to comment, saying the company remains "fully focused" on its business turnaround. Chipotle's stock fell about 4% to $31.32 on Friday, after surging 6.2% in the previous trading session. Limited strategic rationale BTIG expressed "high skepticism," stating that the deal does not make sense operationally, would cause significant dilution for Starbucks shareholders, and would disrupt management operations. "Over the years we've heard many stories about multi-brand acquisitions... but few have materialized, and even fewer have succeeded," BTIG noted. William Blair pointed out that Starbucks’ $9.4 billion net debt as of June makes it difficult to finance an acquisition and could push the combined company’s leverage ratio to about six times—considered high for the restaurant industry. D.A. Davidson stated the probability of the deal succeeding is 20% or less, given the significant differences between the brands and the apparent lack of clear synergies. Raymond James noted that due to the low overlap in menus, supply chain benefits are likely limited, while performance among multi-brand restaurant platforms has been mixed. eMarketer’s Suzy Davidkhanian commented that Niccol's familiarity may reduce execution risk, but investors might still see the deal as a "costly distraction" during Starbucks’ transformation. (For the convenience of non-English speakers, Reuters automatically translates its reports into several other languages. Automated translation may be inaccurate or fail to include necessary context; Reuters does not guarantee the accuracy of automated translated text and provides it solely for readers’ convenience. Reuters accepts no responsibility for any damage or loss resulting from the use of automated translation functions.)

路透社•2026/10/09 16:16