SK hynix headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]
SK hynix headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]

SK hynix and its labor union have reached a tentative wage and collective bargaining agreement under which up to 60 percent of performance bonuses will be paid in company shares.

Both sides also agreed to provisions allowing deferred wage payments during loss-making periods — a commitment to weather downturns together that observers say sets a new model for labor-management cooperation.

According to industry sources, the SK hynix union held an extraordinary delegates' assembly Thursday afternoon to brief members on the tentative 2026 wage and collective bargaining agreement.

Under the deal, employees will receive a 6.3 percent pay raise this year, with profit-sharing bonuses paid 40 percent in cash and the remaining 60 percent in stock. Both sides reached the agreement through direct negotiations, without relying on outside mediation or arbitration.

A standout provision explicitly commits both labor and management to sharing the burden in a crisis. If the company falls into the red, wages can be deferred by up to 3 percent, with the deferral taking effect only after both sides agree on measures including job security guarantees. Any deferred wages are paid out in a lump sum once the company returns to profitability.

The agreement has been widely seen as a reaffirmation of SK hynix's distinctive "crisis-overcoming DNA." The company and its union have a track record of such arrangements — including voluntary unpaid leave and partial wage deferrals during the memory chip downturn of 2023 — with deferred wages paid out in full immediately after the company returned to profit.

Analysts say the deal reflects the deep trust built between labor and management over many years. The two sides have moved beyond a dynamic of demands and concessions to function as joint problem-solvers — a shift observers describe as significant in its own right.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won recently highlighted SK hynix's teamwork in an interview with CNBC. "SK hynix spent more than a decade under court receivership, and that forged a fierce competitive spirit," Chey said. "We have ample capital and technology, but ultimately it is the organization's teamwork and mental strength that determine success or failure."


jeongwan@heraldcorp.com