(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Cho Seong-heum = The parental leave rates of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which are facing a semiconductor super cycle, fell in the first half of this year.
This is the first time that the parental leave rates of both companies have decreased at the same time, and the prediction that the number of cases of giving up leave for performance bonuses worth hundreds of millions of won will increase has been confirmed with actual figures.
According to the semi-annual and business report published on the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 27th, Samsung Electronics' parental leave rate in the first half of this year was 35.5% for employees with children born in the same year, down 0.7 percentage points (p) from 36.2% in the same period last year.
For men, it fell from 12.4% in the first half of last year to 11.2% in the first half of this year, and for women, it fell from 94.3% to 88.2% during the same period.
SK Hynix's parental leave rate in the first half of this year was 3.2% for employees with children under elementary school age, down 0.8 percentage points from 4.0% in the same period last year.
For men, it fell from 1.3% in the first half of last year to 0.7% in the first half of this year, and for women, it fell from 10.1% to 8.9% during the same period.
This is the first time that the parental leave rates of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which are the largest companies in Korea and are considered to have excellent work-life balance, have decreased at the same time.
Around 2024, when the 'Work-Life Balance Disclosure System', which requires companies to disclose child care leave and flexible working hours, was introduced, Samsung Electronics' child care leave rate steadily increased to 34.5% in 2022, 37.4% in 2023, and 39.5% in 2024, before falling slightly to 38.1% in 2025 and again in the first half of this year. It fell.
SK Hynix increased to 7.8% in 2022 and 8.2% in 2023, but fell to 6.6% in 2024, rebounded slightly to 6.9% in 2025, and then fell again in the first half of this year.
Analysis suggests that this trend at both companies is a choice made by employees so as not to miss out on the largest performance bonus of all time.
Previously, the labor and management of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix agreed to pay 10% and 10.5% of operating profits, respectively, as performance bonuses without an upper limit.
In addition, Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business performance has rapidly improved since the second half of last year, and this year's operating profit is expected to exceed 350 trillion won, and performance bonuses in the semiconductor sector are expected to range from as little as 200 million won to as much as 600 million won.
Meanwhile, as the parental leave rate, which had been rising, turned downward, some say that expectations for performance bonuses worth hundreds of millions of dollars were reflected.
At SK Hynix, an inverse trend between performance and parental leave rate is also confirmed.
The parental leave rate reached a record high of over 8% in 2023, when the company turned into a deficit with an operating loss of close to 8 trillion won, but fell to the 6% range for two consecutive years in 2024 and 2025, when annual operating profit rapidly rebounded to the 23 trillion won range and 47 trillion won range.
An industry official said, "This appears to be because taking parental leave excludes employees from performance bonus payments and reduces the length of service, which may lower the payment rate. Considering the semiconductor supercycle that will continue for the next few years, it is highly likely that the parental leave rate in the semiconductor industry will remain low for the time being."
