Parental leave falls at Samsung, SK hynix as hefty bonuses loom

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix both experienced a drop in their parental leave rates during the first half of the year, marking the first instance of simultaneous declines for the two companies. This trend emerged as expectations grew for substantial performance-based bonuses due to a thriving semiconductor industry. Both companies are projected to report record-high profits this year, with employees potentially qualifying for bonuses amounting to hundreds of millions of won.

The surge in demand for memory chips, driven by artificial intelligence (AI), is fueling a semiconductor supercycle. According to the companies' half-year reports, Samsung Electronics' parental leave rate for employees who gave birth during the year was 35.5 percent in the first half, a decline from 36.2 percent in the previous year.

For both men and women, the leave rate decreased. The rate for men fell to 11.2 percent from 12.4 percent in the same period a year earlier, while women's rate dropped to 88.2 percent from 94.3 percent. At SK hynix, the parental leave rate for employees with children aged elementary school or younger decreased to 3.2.