The revised agreement won support from 57.08 percent of union members who voted, or 8,731 workers, in a two-day ballot held Monday and Tuesday, SK hynix said Wednesday.
The vote clears the way for the chipmaker and the union to complete this year's wage negotiations about three weeks after workers rejected the first tentative agreement on Aug. 25 by just 25 votes.
SK hynix said the two sides held about two weeks of intensive negotiations after the rejection and reached the revised agreement on Sept. 9.
The central change was the treatment of the company's profit-sharing bonus, known as PS.
The revised agreement raises the cash portion of PS to 50 percent from 40 percent and lowers the stock portion to 50 percent from 60 percent.
It also gives employees greater choice over how they receive the bonus. Workers can convert part or all of the cash portion into SK hynix shares in increments of 10 percentage points, allowing those who choose to receive as much as 100 percent of their PS in stock.
The arrangement represents a compromise between employees seeking greater cash payments and management's effort to increase stock-based compensation.
Profit-sharing has become an increasingly important part of compensation at SK hynix as booming demand for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, used in artificial intelligence accelerators has sharply increased the chipmaker's earnings.
Under a framework agreed last year, SK hynix removed the previous ceiling on PS and set aside 10 percent of annual operating profit for the bonus pool for 10 years.
The revised labor agreement also formally introduces a provision allowing wages to be deferred when the company posts a loss.
SK hynix described the provision as a commitment by workers and management to share responsibility not only when profits are strong but also when the company faces financial difficulties.
The company said it held about 60 employee briefing sessions during the renewed voting process to explain the purpose and expected effects of the revised compensation system.
SK hynix said those sessions helped employees better understand the changes, although that assessment came from the company.
The agreement comes as labor organization at SK hynix is also changing. A newly established integrated union spanning production, technical and office workers has been seeking to expand its membership and has made preservation of cash-based PS payments one of its priorities.
SK hynix has at the same time been stepping up returns to shareholders alongside sharply higher earnings from the AI memory boom.
The company last month announced a record 40 trillion won ($28.6 billion) share buyback and cancellation program and said it would return more than 50 percent of cumulative free cash flow generated from 2025 through 2027 through dividends, buybacks and share cancellations.
“We thank the labor union and our employees for working through a difficult process,” SK hynix said. “We will continue to address future challenges together through cooperation between the company and its employees.”
Shares of SK hynix were 1.66 percent higher at 1,717,500 won, outperforming its peer Samsung Electronics and the main KOSPI that mostly stayed flat during early Wednesday session.
The company plans to hold a signing ceremony before the Chuseok autumn harvest holiday to formally conclude this year's wage and collective bargaining process.
AJP Takeaways
- SK hynix workers approved a revised 2026 wage deal with 57.08 percent support, three weeks after the first agreement was rejected by just 25 votes.
- The compromise raises the cash portion of profit-sharing bonuses to 50 percent from 40 percent, while allowing workers to voluntarily convert cash into shares and receive as much as 100 percent in stock.
- The deal ends a closely watched dispute over sharing SK hynix’s AI-driven earnings, as the chipmaker balances employee compensation with record shareholder returns and heavy HBM investment.
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