Record Operating Profit, 89% of Pay as Bonuses
Ranked No. 1 Most Desired Company Among University Students
The payslip of SK Hynix, which was ranked as the number one "most desired company to work for among university students," has been made public and is drawing attention.
Recently, an SK Hynix employee posted their January payslip on an online community.
The total payment received by this employee was approximately 56.89 million won. After deducting various withholdings such as taxes and the four major social insurances totaling 7.59 million won, as well as savings and repayment deductions of 1.03 million won, the actual amount received was about 48 million won. Of this, the base monthly salary was about 5.8 million won, consisting of a base salary of 2.957 million won, a fixed overtime allowance of 507,000 won, and a performance bonus of 2.339 million won.
In addition, 89% of the total payment consisted of bonuses, including a special performance bonus of 16.707 million won and a profit sharing (PS) bonus of approximately 34.08 million won. The PS bonus, which is paid once a year, is an incentive that can reach up to 50% of the annual salary or up to 1,000% of the base salary, and is funded by 10% of the previous year's operating profit.
SK Hynix, which recorded the highest operating profit, is making headlines by giving employees an enormous performance bonus. Photo by SK Hynix
According to SK Hynix's salary system, the monthly base salary for new entry-level employees is 2.5 to 2.7 million won; for assistant managers in the early to mid-career stage, it is 2.9 to 3.2 million won; and for managers and senior managers with more than 20 years of experience, it is over 5 million won, with a high proportion coming from bonuses. Based on the disclosed salary, the employee is estimated to be an assistant manager or manager with 5 to 8 years of experience, earning a pre-tax annual salary in the range of 80 to 100 million won.
The background for such high payments is attributed to SK Hynix recording its highest operating profit since its founding. The company announced that its provisional operating profit for the second quarter of 2025 was 9.2129 trillion won, a 68.5% increase compared to the same period last year.
Last year, the average annual salary for SK Hynix employees was 117 million won, and the overall turnover rate was 1.3%, the lowest in the past 10 years. In particular, the voluntary turnover rate has been decreasing every year, reaching 0.9%.
Previously, on July 28, HR tech company Incruit announced the results of a survey of 1,176 university students seeking jobs. The survey targeted the top 170 companies by market capitalization on the domestic stock market (KOSPI and KOSDAQ, excluding holding companies, financial institutions, and public enterprises). SK Hynix (7.1%) ranked first in the "companies university students want to work for," overtaking Samsung Electronics (5.4%), which had held the top spot for two consecutive years. This is an eight-place jump from last year.
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