The AI chip supercycle has been generating extraordinary profits for the South Korea firm, leading it to agree last September to remove its previous bonus cap, instead allocating 10% of annual operating profit directly to employees as performance-based payouts. 

With analyst forecasts placing the company’s 2026 operating profit at around 250 trillion won (c. £126 billion), the resulting bonus pool of 25 trillion won (c. £12.5bn) would be divided amongst roughly 35,000 workers.

The company has already made a down payment of sorts on this generosity, having paid profit-sharing bonuses averaging around 140 million won (c. £70,000) per employee back in February, TomsHardware reports.

Looking further ahead, the numbers could grow even more staggering. Investment bank Macquarie has forecast SK Hynix’s operating profit at 447 trillion won (c. £224bn) for next year, which would push average employee bonuses beyond 1 billion won (c. £500,000) under the existing profit-sharing agreement.