U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology is drawing attention with a plan to pay production workers in Taiwan bonuses worth as much as 68 months of salary.
Largest Bonus in Company History
Micron announced the compensation package for its Taiwan-based staff, including operators, technicians and shift engineers, according to Reuters on the 11th.
The bonuses range from 35 to 68 months of fiscal 2026 salary, with the minimum cash payout reaching 1.7 million Taiwan dollars (about 72.34 million won). Micron said the package is the largest in the company's history.
The plan also includes a cash bonus of 1 million Taiwan dollars (about 42.55 million won) for Taiwan employees who joined the company before Aug. 29, 2025.
For junior engineers, total compensation averages 3.4 million Taiwan dollars (about 144.67 million won). Of that, cash accounts for an average of 2.9 million Taiwan dollars (about 123.4 million won), with the remainder paid in stock valued at the time of grant.
Micron added that it plans to provide annual stock awards to all employees separately. Taiwan is a key production base for the company, employing about 15,000 people.
Taiwan Unions Move Toward Strike, Citing Pay Gap With Korea
The announcement came shortly after multiple unions representing about two-thirds of Micron's Taiwan workforce confirmed broad support among members for a strike.
Micron and the Taoyuan union held a mediation session last week without reaching an agreement, and a second session is scheduled.
Reuters noted that Micron appears to be trying to avoid a repeat of the crisis that rival Samsung Electronics faced in May.
At the time, an 18-day strike that was set to involve as many as 48,000 Samsung Electronics union members was called off after last-minute negotiations. Labor and management agreed to set aside 10.5% of operating profit from the chip division as a special bonus pool, conditional on meeting profitability targets.
The Micron union in Taiwan has argued that bonus systems at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have widened the compensation gap between its members and workers at the Korean rivals.
