Storage Giant Offers Huge Bonuses Again: Micron Awards Up to 68 Months’ Bonus

Micron Technology announced a record-breaking bonus for its Taiwan-based employees, but the union has refused to accept the offer and maintains its threat of strike action, pushing labor-management negotiations into a critical stage.

On Friday, Micron Technology announced that its Taiwan-based employees will receive a reward package for the 2026 fiscal year equivalent to 35 to 68 months of salary, with minimum cash compensation set at 1.7 million New Taiwan dollars (approximately $53,800).

Micron stated that following an "extraordinary year for the company," more than 60,000 employees worldwide will receive rewards for the 2026 fiscal year, making this the largest compensation package distributed to staff in the company's history.

However, the Taoyuan union, which represents around two-thirds of Micron's Taiwan workforce, issued a statement on the same day saying that no consensus has yet been reached in ongoing negotiations. The union continues to demand that 15% of operating profit be allocated as employee bonuses, and warned:

If the company does not respond to these demands, the union will proceed with strike action.

According to Micron's plan, employees in Taiwan who joined before August 29, 2025, will receive a cash bonus of 1 million New Taiwan dollars (approximately $31,700).

For junior engineers, the total reward will average 3.4 million New Taiwan dollars, with the average cash bonus around 2.9 million New Taiwan dollars and the remainder granted as equity awards. In addition, all employees will receive annual equity grants.

Micron employs approximately 15,000 people in Taiwan, making it one of the company’s most important manufacturing bases, with cumulative investment in Taiwan exceeding 1.6 trillion New Taiwan dollars.

The core demand the union has maintained so far is incorporating 15% of Micron's operating profit into employee bonus distribution—a significant disparity remains between this demand and Micron's current proposal.

To some extent, Micron’s move aims to avoid repeating the experience of its South Korean rival, Samsung Electronics.

Reports indicate that in May this year, Samsung faced the threat of an 18-day strike involving up to 48,000 union members. A last-minute negotiation resulted in an agreement to set aside a special bonus pool equivalent to 10.5% of the chip division’s operating profit, narrowly resolving the crisis.

The Micron Taiwan union also previously pointed out that the profit-sharing arrangements at Samsung and SK Hynix have widened the compensation gap between Micron employees and their South Korean counterparts, which is one of the main issues behind the current labor dispute.

For the memory chip market, the stability of Micron’s Taiwan manufacturing base is crucial. If the labor dispute continues to escalate and leads to an actual strike, it will directly impact Micron’s production and supply chain, further affecting the global supply dynamics for memory chips.