SK Hynix to pay 60% of bonuses in shares under tentative wage deal with union: report

SK Hynix and its labor union have reached a tentative wage and collective bargaining agreement, according to Yonhap News. The agreement includes a 6.3% salary increase for employees. A notable change is the method of distributing employee performance bonuses, which will now be 40% in cash and 60% in company shares, replacing the previous all-cash structure.

This shift in bonus allocation comes as SK Hynix, a South Korean chipmaker, benefits from surging demand for high-bandwidth memory used in artificial intelligence systems. The agreement is expected to be put to union members for approval soon. During negotiations, management proposed shifting a significant portion of bonuses from cash to shares, which the union initially opposed, arguing it undermined the profit-sharing framework agreed upon in 2025.

The union had previously agreed to remove a ceiling on profit-sharing bonuses and allocate 10% of annual operating profit to employees in cash for 10 years.