Samsung's AI bonus could reach IDR 7.4 billion, chip workers join harvest

JAKARTA - The explosion of the AI business is not only raising the profits and share prices of chip companies. Their employees also get the most.

Employees of Samsung Electronics' memory chip division stand to receive a jumbo bonus after reaching a profit-sharing deal that ended a strike threat at the South Korean tech giant.

Quoted from The Guardian, Thursday, May 28, Samsung agreed to set aside 10.5 percent of the operating profit of its semiconductor division to pay special bonuses to chip workers. The deal was mediated by the South Korean government after a fierce dispute for five months.

The threat of a 18-day strike was finally canceled after 74 percent of the 62,616 workers who took part in the vote approved the deal.

The number is huge. Reuters reported that a memory chip worker with a base salary of 80 million won per year is estimated to receive a bonus of around 626 million won, or US$416,000. Assuming a rate of around Rp17,800 per US dollar, the value is around Rp7.4 billion. Most of the bonus is paid in the form of shares.

The amount of bonus for each worker is different. Bloomberg estimates that the average Samsung chip worker can receive about 513 million won, or about 340,000 US dollars.

Samsung employs around 78,000 people in its semiconductor division. This division includes memory chips, production of chips based on other companies' orders, and semiconductor design for clients.

Memory chips are components for storing and moving data. In the AI era, this type of chip is increasingly important because data centers require a large supply to run artificial intelligence services.

The deal shows how hot the AI chip business is right now. Demand from AI data centers is soaring and triggering a shortage of supplies. Chip prices have risen sharply. Chip manufacturers' profits have also been boosted.

Samsung is not the only one enjoying this momentum. According to The Guardian, the value of memory chip companies SK Hynix and Micron has crossed the $1 trillion mark for the first time.

SK Hynix shares jumped more than 9 percent on Wednesday. Micron shares even soared 19 percent the day before after UBS analysts tripled the company's target price.

However, this big bonus could also create jealousy within Samsung. Employees in other divisions, including consumer electronics, are expected to receive much smaller bonuses.

The matter is not yet completely resolved. Workers' unions from the consumer electronics division have asked the court to block the voting results. A group of investors also threatened to sue because they considered the deal should have been brought to a shareholders' meeting.

AI is making chip companies richer. Now, chip workers are starting to demand their share. At Samsung, the demand is no longer a mere discussion. It has entered the bonus calculation.