Samsung faces largest-ever strike over bonus dispute

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics is facing its largest labor strike in history after nearly 48,000 workers threatened an 18-day production halt over disputes on bonus caps and profit-sharing demands, at a time of surging global demand for memory chips driven by artificial intelligence.

The planned strike, set to begin Thursday, would involve about 38 percent of Samsung Electronics’ workforce in South Korea. It marks a sharp escalation from last year’s walkout, which saw around 6,000 employees participate.

The labour unions are demanding the removal of the current cap that limits annual bonuses to 50 percent of base salary, as well as a guarantee that 15 per cent of the company’s annual operating profit be allocated to a bonus pool for distribution among employees.

The dispute has been fueled by comparisons with rival SK Hynix, which reportedly scrapped its bonus cap for the next 10 years and has since offered significantly higher payouts, leading to concerns over talent loss at Samsung.

Samsung, however, has rejected the permanent removal of the bonus ceiling. The company has proposed enhanced one-time payouts, including higher bonuses for memory chip division staff compared to SK Hynix peers and 50–100 per cent bonus payments for logic chip employees, but only for the current year.

The standoff comes as the global semiconductor industry experiences strong demand growth, particularly in AI-related memory chips, making production stability a critical concern.