Earlier, a fourth-year employee of SK Hynix publicly sent an e-mail protesting to all members, including President 성인토렌트
after a notice of the company's performance-based payment was made late last month, and complaints poured out in earnest. Since then, SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won declared that he would return his salary on the 1st of this month, and President Lee sent an e-mail containing an apology to all employees the next day, but the controversy has not subsided.
SK Hynix employees complained through anonymous bulletin boards and online communities that the company achieved 5 trillion won in operating profit, which was much higher than last year, but decided to pay 400% of the basic salary, which is the same level as 2019. There were also many voices that they would try to move to another company that started recruiting experienced workers.
The industry's common assessment is that such complaints are especially prominent among low-year or young-generation employees who do not have long service years. "For young members who have loans due to real estate or stock fever, the bonus is an opportunity to raise a lump sum of money," an employee of a large company said. "If the performance is lower than the company's achievements, the dissatisfaction will be strong." Another employee of a large company said, "If you go to an experienced job in the past, you will have to be skeptical about your choice if you get a lower salary and a higher bonus."
Lee Jang-joo, head of the Institute for Digital Culture, said, "Just as there is a counter-revolution in a successful coup, conflicts are inevitable in organizations that have to achieve goals and distribute profits."
First of all, SK Hynix decided to abolish EVA (economic value added), which was used as an indicator of calculating performance-based bonuses, and link performance-based bonuses with operating profit through labor-management consultations on the 4th. In addition, labor and management agreed to issue shares of our company on the premise of the board's approval so that benefits equivalent to 200% of the basic salary will go to members and pay 3 million points of in-house welfare points.