"Samsung and Hynix Were Once for the Underachievers"... Hyundai Motor Employee's Lament

"Life Is 99% Luck... Back Then, Hyundai Motor Was Number One"

A post by a Hyundai Motor employee expressing frustration over the large performance bonuses expected for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix employees this year has sparked controversy.

On May 17, an anonymous post by a Hyundai Motor employee appeared on the workplace community "Blind." The employee, referred to as Mr. A, wrote, "I feel like life is 99% luck. When I first joined the company, Hyundai Motor was obviously the number one choice, and Samsung Electronics was just a place for students who didn’t do well academically but wanted the prestige of a major corporation," he recalled.

Samsung Electronics Seocho Building. The Asia Business Daily DB

He went on to claim, "SK hynix was usually for kids from technical colleges, so naturally, they probably did worse academically than Meister high school graduates." He added, "Even so, it’s hard to accept that even if I worked at Hyundai Motor for my entire life, I would never earn as much in performance bonuses as those at Samsung Electronics or SK hynix," trailing off at the end.

Mr. A continued, "It feels like everything I thought I knew has been completely upended. It’s not even envy—it's just that the country itself seems to be heading in a strange direction. I’m actually afraid of how this storm will unfold."

Reactions from readers were mixed. Some agreed with Mr. A, saying, "Life is luck. The reason Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are making so much money is just because they happened to have incredible luck in the era of artificial intelligence," and, "Timing is everything."

On the other hand, some pushed back, saying, "I job-hunted when the auto industry was already declining. At that time, if you had a choice, you went to Samsung or SK hynix over Hyundai Motor," and, "I wanted to work in semiconductors, so I never even considered Hyundai Motor—so what’s the point of writing such a post?"

Meanwhile, SK hynix announced during its first quarter earnings report this year that it achieved an operating profit of 37.6103 trillion won. Since SK hynix allocates 10% of its operating profit as performance bonuses, if this trend continues, next year's bonuses are expected to reach several hundred million won per employee.

At Samsung Electronics, the largest union—the Samsung Electronics Branch of the Samsung Group Super Enterprise Union—is demanding the removal of the bonus cap and that 15% of operating profit be set aside for bonuses. The union has announced a general strike set for May 21 if negotiations with management do not progress.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.