Micron set to reward engineers in Taiwan with $40,000 cash bonus
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The average compensation of Micron’s entry-level Taiwan-based engineers will reach NT$3.4 million (S$136,000).
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Micron Technology will give Taiwan engineers a NT$1 million ($40,000) cash bonus plus equity rewards, raising average compensation to NT$3.4 million last fiscal year.
- Unions demanded a one-time payout of about US$170,000 per worker and ongoing profit-sharing bonuses amid rising AI-driven chip profits.
- Micron’s AI-related growth led to a 15-fold net income increase, with competitors also promising profit-sharing, sparking debates over bonus fairness and distribution.
AI generated
TAIPEI – Micron Technology is set to provide its engineers in Taiwan with a cash bonus of NT$1 million (S$40,000) plus equity rewards, as the company’s local unions are demanding additional payout to reflect their contribution to its blowout profits.
The Boise, Idaho-based chipmaker said in a statement on Sept 11 that its entry-level, Taiwan-based engineers’ average compensation will reach NT$3.4 million for the past fiscal year after the cash and equities awards.
All employees in Taiwan will receive equities as part of the annual merit grants, the company added.
Before the announcement, Micron’s unions asked for a one-time cash payout equal to about seven years of an employee’s base salary.
That would translate into an average payment of about US$170,000 (S$215,500) a worker, based on Bloomberg calculations off data the unions provided.
They are also demanding the company allocate a portion of its profit to be shared with global staff as bonuses going forward.
The row over Micron’s payouts coincides with a global debate about who deserves a cut of the sudden wealth generated by booming investment in artificial intelligence-related data centres and other infrastructure.
That has spurred Micron’s South Korean rivals Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to promise employees a share of the profits in their bonuses.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co has also vowed to set aside 30 per cent more in profit-sharing payouts for employees.
But the sheer size of some of the bonuses has created rifts within companies and communities, with growing calls that users who supply AI with the data it needs also get a cut.
Micron has been handed a major boost from the AI boom. Its cutting-edge high-bandwidth memory is required to make AI accelerators from the likes of Nvidia Corp.
The US chipmaker reported a fifteenfold gain in net income in the third quarter, while its share price has risen more than 500 per cent over the past year.
Micron now employs about 15,000 people in Taiwan, which serves as a key manufacturing hub for the chipmaker.
At the same time, it still relies on the US for the bulk of its research and development operations and some production, while it also runs plants in Japan and Singapore. BLOOMBERG
