Parental leave falls at Samsung, SK hynix as hefty bonuses loom
Corporate logos of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix / Yonhap
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix both saw their parental leave rates decline in the first half of this year, marking the first time the two companies have recorded simultaneous declines, as expectations for hefty performance-based bonuses grow amid a semiconductor boom.
The decline comes as both companies are expected to post record-high profits this year, with employees potentially eligible for bonuses worth hundreds of millions of won as the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven demand for memory chips fuels a semiconductor supercycle.
According to the companies’ half-year reports, Samsung Electronics’ parental leave rate among employees with children born during the year stood at 35.5 percent in the first half, down from 36.2 percent a year earlier.
The rate fell for both men and women. The rate for men taking parental leave rate dropped to 11.2 percent from 12.4 percent in the same period the year before, while the rate for women fell to 88.2 percent from 94.3 percent.
At SK hynix, the parental leave rate among employees with children of elementary school age or younger fell to 3.2 percent from 4 percent a year earlier.
The rate for men dropped to 0.7 percent from 1.3 percent, while the rate for women declined to 8.9 percent from 10.1 percent.
Samsung Electronics’ parental leave rate rose from 34.5 percent in 2022 to 37.4 percent in 2023 and 39.5 percent in 2024, before falling to 38.1 percent in 2025 and declining again in the first half of this year.
SK hynix's rate increased from 7.8 percent in 2022 to 8.2 percent in 2023, then fell to 6.6 percent in 2024 before edging up to 6.9 percent in 2025.
The declines come as both companies plan to pay performance-based bonuses tied to operating profit.
SK hynix agreed to pay employees 10 percent of operating profit as a performance bonus, while Samsung Electronics’ new special bonus for its semiconductor business is based on 10.5 percent of its business performance, with no payout cap.
Both companies are expected to post record-high annual profits this year as memory prices and demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) remain strong.
Samsung Electronics is projected to report more than 350 trillion won ($257.5 billion) in operating profit this year, with semiconductor employees potentially receiving performance bonuses ranging from 200 million won to more than 600 million won.
The consensus among securities analysts puts SK hynix’s operating profit at around 260 trillion won.