Last updated: September 14th, 2026 at 09:09 UTC+02:00
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It's a costly affair.
Reading time: 2 minutes
Max Jambor
Semiconductor engineers are a hot commodity these days, with companies offering record salaries and incentives to entice switching over.
South Korea has some of the world's top semiconductor engineers, and it's becoming costly for local giants like Samsung to retain them as US companies are actively recruiting them.
Korean media is reporting that US companies like Micron and SanDisk are recruiting South Korean engineers that have expertise in high-bandwidth memory, NAND flash, and other crucial technologies.
Both of these companies are hiring research and development employees for positions based in Seoul, Samsung's literal backyard.
This is pushing companies like Samsung and SK Hynix to increase salaries and stock awards to retain them. Samsung's workforce has declined slightly in the first half of this year, even as total employee compensation has increased.
Its total spend on employee salaries has increased by 6.8% over the previous year, from $5.59 billion to $5.97 billion. Total salary relat...