"Performance Bonus Up to 600 Million Won, 3 Million Won Chairs"...Samsung Electronics to Announce Bonus Details After Chuseok

Calculation Method and Payment Criteria to Be Announced After Chuseok

Herman Miller Office Chairs to Be Introduced in Phases

After the Chuseok holiday, the Device Solutions (DS) division of Samsung Electronics will announce the calculation method and payment criteria for the Special Management Performance Bonus. In addition, measures to improve employee compensation and welfare systems, such as the introduction of high-end office chairs, will also be implemented.

Samsung Electronics Headquarters, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

According to industry sources on the 24th, the Samsung Electronics branch of the Samsung Group Super-Enterprise Trade Union (Super-Enterprise Union) recently notified its members that "the announcement regarding the DS Special Management Performance Bonus will be made during the last week of September, after the Chuseok holiday."

The DS Special Management Performance Bonus is a new scheme, separate from the OPI (Outcome Performance Incentive), which was established when Samsung Electronics labor and management reached a wage agreement last May.

At that time, after a period of tense negotiations right up to the brink of a general strike, labor and management agreed to set aside 10.5% of the operating profit generated by the DS division as the funding source for the Special Management Performance Bonus.

The Special Management Performance Bonus is paid entirely in company stock post-tax and does not have a preset maximum limit. Of the total funds, 40% is allocated to all employees in the DS division first, while the remaining 60% is divided by each business unit within the DS division.

One-third of the awarded stock can be sold immediately, while the rest is subject to sales restrictions: half after one year and the remaining half after two years. The upcoming guidelines are expected to maintain the overall framework of the existing agreement.

If Samsung Electronics' operating profit is assumed to be 300 trillion won this year, under the new system, an employee in the Memory Business Unit within the DS division is estimated to receive around 550 million won worth of company stock as a Special Management Performance Bonus, and up to 50 million won in OPI (assuming an annual salary of 100 million won, pre-tax), for a total payout of around 600 million won. Some in the securities industry predict that Samsung Electronics' operating profit for this year could reach as high as 370 trillion won, meaning the total bonus payout could be even larger.

A plan to use part of the Special Management Performance Bonus for social contribution activities is also expected to be announced. Under consideration is a "1:1 matching" program, where if employees voluntarily donate 0.5-1% of their Special Management Performance Bonus, the company will match the amount. Participation will be at the discretion of each employee.

The company also plans to improve the working environment. The DS division will gradually introduce the Herman Miller office chair "New Aeron Lite Plus" at all business sites. This high-end office chair retails for between 2 million and 3 million won in Korea. Samsung Electronics will begin the replacement at the Giheung site, followed by Onyang, Cheonan, and Hwaseong in the first half of next year, and Pyeongtaek in the second half of next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.