内容来源：https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/07/28/1140853/samsung-chip-workers-exodus-sk-hynix/

内容总结：

三星芯片人才流向SK海力士：高额奖金引发“跳槽潮”

随着人工智能芯片竞争的白热化，韩国两大半导体巨头之间的人才争夺战也愈演愈烈。近期，三星电子芯片部门的多位工程师向《麻省理工科技评论》透露，他们正积极准备跳槽至竞争对手SK海力士，原因直指后者发放的巨额绩效奖金。

一位化名为李的三星代工部门工程师表示，他所在的30人团队（除两名组长外）几乎全部申请了SK海力士7月发布的职位。甚至连他的直属上司也鼓励下属“赶紧跳槽”。李坦言，SK海力士因其高带宽内存（HBM）芯片业务受益于AI热潮，今年拟向每位员工发放约47.6万美元（约合人民币340万元）的奖金，这一数字远超三星同类员工的预期，导致团队士气低落。

长期以来，SK海力士在三星的阴影下发展。2019年，三星缩减了HBM团队，而SK海力士则加大投入。随着AI爆发式增长，HBM需求飙升，SK海力士成为该领域的全球领跑者，其市值在今年6月一度超越三星，成为韩国市值最高的公司。

在奖金分配上，三星各事业部的绩效与自身盈利挂钩。同样制造HBM芯片的存储事业部员工今年奖金约40万美元，而李所在的三星代工事业部因亏损，奖金仅约13.5万美元（约合人民币97万元）。李表示，与公司工会长期谈判后，他对最终结果感到失望：“就算三星未来业绩好转，我觉得也落不到我头上。”

据三星工会6月调查，其代工事业部81.5%的员工、整个半导体事业部近一半的员工计划在未来两年内跳槽。今年4月至7月间，已有超过200名工会成员转投SK海力士。匿名职场论坛Blind上，大量三星工程师抱怨奖金问题，并公开表达跳槽意愿。

人才流失正威胁三星在HBM竞赛中的关键优势。半导体专家朴俊英指出，三星是全球唯一同时拥有存储和代工业务的存储器厂商，这使其在下一代HBM4技术上具备内部协同优势。但如果代工人才持续流失，三星的内部协作将变得困难，而正在招募代工工程师的SK海力士则可能在HBM研发上取得进展。

为留住并争夺人才，双方正展开激烈竞争。SK海力士今年上半年已增员2152人，并计划五年内将制造产能翻倍。三星则计划未来五年招聘6万人，尤其是半导体部门。然而，韩国半导体产业协会预测，到2031年韩国半导体行业需约30.4万名工人，仍面临约5.4万人的缺口。

与此同时，法律手段也开始介入。今年7月，三星成功申请禁令，禁止两名前芯片工程师在18个月内入职SK海力士，理由是芯片属于国家核心技术，需维护公平市场秩序。这场人才争夺战的结果，或将决定谁能在下一代AI芯片浪潮中占据主导地位。

中文翻译：

三星芯片员工正集体跳槽至竞争对手SK海力士。随着AI芯片未来之争愈演愈烈，顶尖人才的争夺也在加速。

李明（化名）是三星半导体部门的工程师，如今一到下班时间便准时打卡离开。他曾经常常加班加点，力求在项目中脱颖而出。但近来，他下班后直接回家，忙着准备向这家芯片制造商的韩国竞争对手SK海力士投递求职申请，还与同事分享如何撰写出色的个人陈述。就连他的上司也鼓励他跳槽。

"我的团队组长让我们全都跳槽去SK海力士。"李明说。他和同事们士气低落，因为SK海力士将向员工发放47.6万美元的奖金，这家公司因生产高带宽内存芯片而获得创纪录的利润——正是这类芯片为英伟达的AI加速器提供动力。这一金额远超三星芯片员工的预期收入，正引发离职潮。

随着AI热潮升温，半导体巨头们正展开激烈的人才争夺战，手段包括高额奖金、积极招聘，甚至申请法庭禁令。谁能胜出，可能将决定谁能在下一代HBM芯片领域占据主导地位，而HBM芯片正是AI热潮的核心。

"除了两位团队组长，我们整个团队（30人）都刚向SK海力士提交了申请。"李明指的是该公司7月发布的一个招聘职位。已在三星工作三年的李明甚至申请了竞争对手的一个初级岗位。一位在三星工作八年的同事也申请了同一职位。两人都未被录用，但他们仍抱有希望，期待针对更有经验工程师的招聘能给他们回音。

《麻省理工科技评论》采访的所有三星和SK海力士员工均要求仅使用姓氏或化名，因为他们担心遭到雇主报复。三星拒绝置评，SK海力士也未回应置评请求。

经过与工会的长期谈判，三星于5月达成协议，在未来10年内每年将半导体部门营业利润的10.5%作为奖金发放给员工，大部分以三年期归属的公司股票形式发放。而此前，SK海力士去年已同意将营业利润的10%发放给员工，这意味着今年每位员工将获得47.6万美元——大部分以现金形式发放。

但在三星，每个部门的奖金与其自身盈亏挂钩。其内存部门的芯片员工——该部门也因生产HBM芯片而获利丰厚——今年每人将获得约40万美元的奖金。但像李明这样在三星代工部门工作的员工，该部门负责制造特斯拉和谷歌等公司设计的逻辑芯片，且一直处于亏损状态，每人仅能获得约13.5万美元的奖金。

员工们告诉《麻省理工科技评论》，三星表示无法向业绩不佳的部门发放过多奖金。李明在目睹工会与公司长达数月的博弈后，对自己最终得到的待遇感到失望："即使三星未来业绩出色，我认为也不会有一分钱落到我头上。"

员工奖金的滞后让SK海力士突然变得具有吸引力。根据三星工会6月的一项调查，该公司代工部门81.5%的员工以及整个半导体部门近一半的员工表示，他们希望在未来两年内跳槽到其他公司。今年4月，三星工会负责人崔胜浩表示，过去四个月里，已有200多名工会成员转投SK海力士。在匿名职场论坛Blind上，许多心怀不满的三星工程师坦言，他们想投奔SK海力士以获得更高奖金。

几十年来，SK海力士一直活在三星的阴影下。这家规模较小、更具拼劲的内存制造商，曾是顶尖工程专业学生在求职时不会优先考虑的对象。但在2019年，三星缩减了其HBM团队，认为该市场仍将局限于小众领域，而SK海力士却在此时押注于这项技术。随后，AI热潮极大刺激了对HBM的需求——这种芯片能以超高速度为AI芯片提供所需的海量数据，推动其价格达到前所未有的水平。如今，SK海力士在全球HBM市场占据领先地位，而三星则在奋力追赶。两家公司均在5月市值突破1万亿美元，SK海力士更在6月短暂超越三星，成为韩国市值最高的公司。

预测内存芯片需求将持续激增，这些半导体巨头正大力投资扩张业务。上月，两家公司公布了到2040年投资超过2万亿美元的计划，其中包括在首尔以南的龙仁市建设一个半导体"超级集群"。为满足扩张需求，SK海力士仅在2026年上半年就新增了2152名员工，并计划在五年内将制造能力翻倍。三星则计划在未来五年内招聘6万名员工，尤其是其半导体部门。即便如此，人才缺口依然存在：据韩国半导体产业协会称，到2031年，韩国半导体产业将需要约30.4万名工人，面临约5.4万人的短缺。

如今，这两家长期竞争对手正以丰厚奖金来留住并挖角人才。"（SK海力士）在招聘时似乎专门瞄准三星工程师，因为它是竞争对手。"SK海力士的一位经理白某表示，"据我内部听到的消息，我们发放的高额绩效奖金，目的就是为了从竞争对手那里吸引人才。"

法院也开始介入。今年7月，三星赢得一项禁令，禁止两名前芯片员工在18个月内入职SK海力士，理由是芯片属于国家核心技术，应受保护。法院裁定："鉴于半导体行业竞争激烈，有必要建立公平的市场秩序。"

人才流失正威胁三星在HBM竞争中仍拥有的一个关键优势。"三星是全球唯一一家拥有代工业务的内存制造商。"研究机构工业人类学实验室的半导体专家朴俊英表示，他曾在三星工作十年。

对于最新一代技术HBM4，每个内存堆栈底部的逻辑芯片必须采用只有代工厂才能实现的先进工艺制造。三星可以在内部完成，而SK海力士则将其外包给台湾代工巨头台积电。"如果三星继续失去代工方面的工程师……内存部门与代工部门之间的协作可能会变得困难。"朴俊英说，"SK海力士过去只有内存团队，如今正在招聘代工工程师，它可能在HBM研发方面做得更好。"

已在三星工作七年的工程师崔某表示，他曾是团队中的明星员工，管理者对他的评价一直很高。但近来，他和同事们忙于申请他们看到的每一个SK海力士职位。"我们会互相告知SK海力士下一个招聘职位何时发布。"他说，"除了本职工作外，总还有更多事情要做。但做这些已经毫无意义了。"

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英文来源：

Samsung’s chip workers are jumping ship to rival SK Hynix
As the battle over the future of AI chips plays out, the fight for top talent is also ramping up.
Lee, an engineer at Samsung’s semiconductor division, clocks out when his shift ends. He used to work longer hours, going the extra mile to excel at his projects. But lately, he’s been coming straight home to work on his job application for the chipmaker’s South Korean rival SK Hynix, sharing tips with his coworkers on how to draft a stellar personal statement. Even his boss encourages him to make the move.
“My team lead tells us all to jump ship to SK Hynix,” says Lee. He and his coworkers are feeling demoralized by the $476,000 bonus that SK Hynix is set to pay its employees, flush with record profits from making the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips that power Nvidia’s AI accelerators. The figure dwarfs what chip workers at Samsung are set to receive and is sparking an exodus.
As the AI boom heats up, the semiconductor titans are waging a fierce talent war with flashy bonuses, aggressive recruiting, and even a courtroom injunction. Who wins could tilt the race to dominate the next generation of the HBM chips at the heart of the AI boom.
“Except for our two team leads, my entire team [of 30 people] just applied to SK Hynix,” Lee says, referring to a job posting the company published in July. Lee, who has worked at Samsung for three years, even applied for an entry-level position at its rival. A coworker, who has worked at Samsung for eight years, applied for the same one. They both got rejected. But they’re hopeful that they’ll get a callback for a posting seeking a more experienced engineer.
All employees at Samsung and SK Hynix that MIT Technology Review spoke with asked to be identified by just their last name or a pseudonym because they feared retaliation from their employer. Samsung declined to comment, and SK Hynix did not respond to requests for comment.
After prolonged negotiations with its labor union, Samsung struck a deal in May to pay out 10.5% of the semiconductor division’s operating profits to employees as bonuses annually for 10 years, mostly in company stock that vests over three years. The move came after SK Hynix agreed last year to pay out 10% of operating profits to employees, which translates to $476,000 per employee this year—mostly in cash.
But at Samsung, each division’s bonus is tied to its own bottom line. Chip workers in its memory division, which is also reaping a windfall from making HBM chips, are getting paid a bonus of roughly $400,000 per employee this year. But those who, like Lee, work in Samsung’s foundry division, which manufactures logic chips that companies like Tesla and Google design and has been operating at a loss, are getting a bonus of roughly $135,000.
Employees told MIT Technology Review that Samsung said it can’t give as many bonuses to divisions that aren’t performing well. Lee, after watching the labor union wrestle with the company for months, says he has felt disappointed by what he ended up with: “Even if Samsung does well in the future, I don’t think any of it will trickle down to me.”
The workers’ lagging bonuses are making SK Hynix suddenly look appealing. According to a survey by the Samsung labor union in June, 81.5% of employees in the company’s foundry division, and nearly half of employees in the semiconductor division as a whole, said they wanted to go to another company in the next two years. In April, Samsung labor union chief Choi Seung-ho said more than 200 members of the union had left for SK Hynix over the past four months. On Blind, an anonymous workplace forum, a chorus of disgruntled engineers at Samsung confess that they want to defect to SK Hynix for the bigger bonuses.
For decades, SK Hynix lived in Samsung’s shadow. It was the smaller, scrappier memory maker that elite engineering students at universities looked past when applying for jobs. But in 2019, Samsung downsized its HBM team, betting the market would stay niche, while SK Hynix doubled down on the technology. Then the AI boom supercharged the demand for HBMs, which feed AI chips the enormous amounts of data they need at ultra-high speed, driving prices to unprecedented levels. SK Hynix now leads the global market for HBMs, while Samsung is playing catch-up. Both companies topped $1 trillion in market value in May, and SK Hynix briefly dethroned Samsung as South Korea’s most valuable company in June.
Predicting that demand for memory chips will continue to surge, the semiconductor titans are making aggressive investments to expand their business. Last month, the companies unveiled plans to invest more than $2 trillion by 2040, including a semiconductor “mega-cluster” in Yongin, a city south of Seoul. To staff the expansion, SK Hynix added 2,152 employees in the first half of 2026 alone and aims to double its manufacturing capacity in five years. Samsung plans to hire 60,000 employees over the next five years, especially for its semiconductor division. Even so, the pipeline will fall short: South Korea’s semiconductor industry will need about 304,000 workers by 2031 and faces a shortage of roughly 54,000, according to the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association.
Now the longtime rivals are showering workers with big bonuses to keep—and poach—talent. “[SK Hynix] seems to target Samsung engineers when hiring because it’s a rival,” says Baek, a manager at SK Hynix. “From what I heard internally, the big performance bonuses we got were aimed at luring away talent from our competitor.”
Courts are starting to weigh in. In July, Samsung won an injunction barring two former chip workers from working at SK Hynix for 18 months, on the grounds that chips are a national core technology deserving protection. “With competition in the semiconductor industry fierce, it’s necessary to establish a fair market order,” the court ruled.
The talent exodus threatens a crucial advantage that Samsung still holds in the HBM race. “Samsung is the only memory maker in the world that owns a foundry business,” says Park Jun-young, a semiconductor expert at the Industrial Anthropology Laboratory, a research institute, who worked at Samsung for a decade.
With the latest generation of the technology, known as HBM4, the logic chip at the base of each memory stack must be manufactured with the kind of advanced process that only foundries run. Samsung can do this in-house, while SK Hynix outsources it to the Taiwanese foundry giant TSMC. “If Samsung keeps losing engineers in the foundry … the collaboration between memory division and foundry division could become difficult,” says Park. “SK Hynix, which used to have only a memory team and is now hiring foundry engineers, could do better research on HBMs.”
Choi, an engineer who has worked at Samsung for seven years, says he was once a star on his team, getting glowing performance reviews from his managers. But lately, he and his coworkers have been busy applying for every SK Hynix job posting they see. “We tell each other when the next SK Hynix job posting is up,” he says. “There’s always more work to do beyond our basic duties. But there’s no point in doing it.”
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