Samsung in Chaos: Black-Clad Employees Protest for Bonuses Up to 100 Times Lower

Samsung is facing increasing internal tension related to the significant disparity in bonuses awarded to employees across different business divisions. At the center of the controversy is a recent agreement that guarantees semiconductor workers particularly high financial rewards, generating discontent among staff employed in other branches of the group.

To express their dissent, some employees from the Device Experience (DX) division, which includes Mobile, Display, and Digital Appliance activities, came to work dressed in black and wearing black masks. According to information reported by South Korean media, the gesture was interpreted as a form of collective protest.

In Korean culture, the color black can have various meanings, including wisdom and authority, but it is also associated with mourning, pain, and commemoration. In light of the current context, the choice of black clothing was seen as a clear signal of dissatisfaction with the compensation policies adopted by the company.

Additional Details on the Samsung Workers' Protest

The origin of the protest is linked to the agreement reached between Samsung and the unionized workers in the semiconductor sector. The agreement stipulates that these employees can benefit from a special bonus equal to 10.5% of the company's annual operating profits, provided that these profits exceed 200 trillion won between 2026 and 2028 and 100 trillion won between 2029 and 2035.

According to current forecasts, Samsung could register operating profits close to 300 trillion won in 2026. In such a scenario, each employee involved in memory and semiconductor activities could receive bonuses amounting to approximately 600 million won, equivalent to about $400,000.

The situation looks very different for workers in other divisions. For instance, employees in the mobile sector are expected to receive bonuses of about 6 million won, equivalent to approximately $4,000. A difference that, according to reported estimates, reaches a ratio of about 100 to 1, fueling increasingly evident tensions within the Samsung group.