[Asia Economy Reporter Su-yeon Woo] Amid SK Hynix employees expressing dissatisfaction with last year's performance bonuses, on the 2nd, Lee Seok-hee, CEO of SK Hynix, conveyed through an internal message his intention to expand internal communication regarding performance bonuses this year.
According to SK Hynix on the day, CEO Lee sent an internal message in response to employees' requests and explained the calculation method of last year's Profit Sharing (PS). He said, "Last year's performance bonus was paid from a portion of the positive EVA (Economic Value Added)," adding, "I deeply regret that the level of last year's performance bonus calculated by this method did not meet the expectations of our members, causing your disappointment and frustration."
He continued, "This year, management and employees will work together to achieve good results and strive to pay performance bonuses that meet expectations," and added, "We will expand communication throughout the year regarding the expected level and range of PS."
The reason CEO Lee sent a company-wide message regarding performance bonuses is that internal dissatisfaction over last year's bonus payments has not easily subsided. On the 28th of last month, Hynix announced that it would pay 400% of an amount equivalent to 1/20th of an employee's annual salary as this year's PS.
However, despite SK Hynix's operating profit last year reaching 5 trillion won, an increase of more than 80% compared to the previous year, internal dissatisfaction began to surface because the performance bonuses remained at the same level as in 2019.
On the previous day, in an unusual move, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won declared that he would return all of his salary received from SK Hynix last year to share with employees. Based on 2019, Chairman Chey’s salary from SK Hynix was about 3 billion won, which, when divided among approximately 28,000 employees, amounts to about 100,000 won per person. The salary level for 2020 has not yet been disclosed.
Meanwhile, on the same day, Samsung Electronics’ DS Division, responsible for the semiconductor business, posted a job announcement for experienced workers, signaling a large-scale workforce movement in the semiconductor industry. Inside SK Hynix, it is known that a considerable number of employees are considering leaving due to dissatisfaction with this year’s performance bonuses.
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