Micron's Taiwan workers to get rewards worth up to 68 months of pay

TAIPEI: Micron Technology said on Friday (Sep 11) its direct labour employees in Taiwan would receive bonuses equaling 35 to 68 months of pay for fiscal 2026, with minimum cash compensation of NT$1.7 million (US$53,809.39), after the US chipmaker enjoyed what it described as an extraordinary year.

Micron said the payouts to the employees, including operators, technicians and shift engineers, were its strongest ever and that more than 60,000 employees globally will receive fiscal 2026 rewards.

The announcement comes after unions representing around two-thirds of Micron's workforce in Taiwan signalled widespread support among members for a strike. The unions did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The rewards include a NT$1 million (US$31,652.58) cash bonus for Taiwan employees, who joined before Aug 29, 2025, for fiscal 2026, the US memory maker said.

For entry-level engineers, total rewards average NT$3.4 million, including an average of NT$2.9 million in cash compensation, with the remainder comprising equity at grant value, the company said.

Every employee will also receive an annual equity grant, Micron said.

NO AGREEMENT WITH UNION

Micron employs about 15,000 people in Taiwan, one of its most important manufacturing hubs, and said it has invested more than NT$1.6 trillion in the island.

The US memory maker and the Taoyuan union failed to reach an agreement during a mediation meeting last week, with a second round of mediation scheduled.

Micron is looking to avoid being dragged into a crisis similar to what its Korean rival Samsung Electronics faced in May, when a planned 18-day strike by as many as 48,000 union members was called off after last-minute negotiations and a successful deal that created a special bonus pool worth 10.5 per cent of the chip division's operating profit, subject to profitability targets.

Back then the prospect of a stoppage at the world's largest memory-chip maker had raised worries about chip supplies and broader economic fallout in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

Micron's Taiwanese unions previously said profit-sharing arrangements at Samsung and SK Hynix had widened the gap between Micron workers and their South Korean peers.