SK Hynix Union Rejects 2026 Pay Deal, Shares Fall 4.55%

SK Hynix union members voted on August 25 to reject the preliminary 2026 wage and collective bargaining agreement reached with management. Of the 15,045 employees who participated, 50.08% voted against and 49.92% in favor, a margin of just 25 votes, with a turnout of 93.81%.

The agreement, reached after two months of negotiations, included a 6.3% salary increase and adjustments to the profit-sharing bonus plan. Under the new scheme, 40% of the total bonus pool would be paid in cash, with the remaining 60% in company stock. Of that stock portion, 40% of the total bonus would be freely convertible in the same year, while the remaining 20% would be deferred. Previously, bonuses were paid entirely in cash, and many employees opposed the shift to stock-based compensation due to concerns over share price volatility.

In 2025, SK Hynix labor and management had agreed to remove the profit-sharing cap, setting aside 10% of annual operating profit as a bonus pool, with 80% paid in cash in the current year and 20% deferred for two years in cash. As the world's second-largest memory chip maker, SK Hynix has continued to see profit growth driven by strong demand for high-bandwidth memory chips used in artificial intelligence applications. Employees have higher expectations for bonus levels, while shareholders focus on capital returns such as dividends and buybacks.

Last week, SK Hynix announced that its board had approved a resolution to buy back and cancel shares worth 40 trillion won (approximately $28.3 billion). On August 25, SK Hynix shares fell 4.55% to 1,595,000 won, with intraday losses at one point nearing 7%. During the same period, Samsung Electronics shares fell about 2%, as a selloff in U. S. chip stocks weighed on the Korean semiconductor sector.