STOCK, CASH: Quarterly profit-sharing bonuses would supplement payments under the Incentive Pay Plan, offering ‘transparency’ and ‘predictability,’ an executive said
By Lisa Wang / Staff reporter
Micron Memory Taiwan Co (台灣美光) yesterday unveiled a new profit-sharing program and structural wage hikes as part of its efforts to build a predictable and transparent compensation framework in response to feedback from unions.
The memorychip maker, a subsidiary of US-based Micron Technology Inc, announced the major compensation structural overhaul during an online news conference following a milestone agreement with the union representing more than 10,000 workers at its Taichung facility.
Under the new framework, quarterly profit-sharing bonuses would supplement payments under the Incentive Pay Plan (IPP), the company said.
Micron Memory Taiwan Co’s logo is pictured in front of the company’s fab in Taichung on Nov. 6, 2023.
Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times
The IPP formula has also been substantially enhanced, it said.
“Profit-sharing mechanisms are common among Asian companies, but they are rarely seen among American technology firms,” Micron Memory Taiwan chairman Donghui Lu (盧東暉) told the news conference. “This approach offers transparency and, to a certain degree, predictability.”
The new mechanism is to take effect in fiscal 2027 and apply to eligible employees in Micron Technology’s global workforce.
Quarterly net income minus forecast capital expenditure for the following quarter would be the basis for calculating profit-sharing bonuses, the company said.
The payout will be distributed equally between stock — subject to one-year vesting — and cash, it said.
Following its annual wage adjustments, Micron Memory Taiwan is to implement another structural payroll increase in an extensive way to avoid salary inversion.
Previously, Micron Memory Taiwan’s wage hikes primarily targeted entry-level personnel and newcomers.
The company hopes to implement the adjustments by Lunar New Year next year, it said.
Micron Memory Taiwan also plans to increase shift differential pay from December. The monthly allowance for day shifts would triple to NT$4,500 (US$138.43), while the allowance for evening shifts would increase to 15 percent of their regular pay, and night shift workers would receive a 20 percent shift differential, it said.
After the adjustments, the conditional top-end compensation for an entry-level engineer would be nearly NT$4 million in fiscal 2027, up from NT$1.45 million in fiscal 2025, while the amount for mid-to-senior-tier engineers is projected at NT$6 million, up from more than NT$2 million, the Taichung union said.
The projections include stock awards and employer retirement contributions.
Micron Memory Taiwan said it would increase its employer pension contribution rate to 10 percent of workers’ regular pay from 8 percent to retain talent.
Representatives of the company’s Taoyuan union yesterday held a one-day strike over accusations that company management had failed to disclose its profit-sharing ratio.
The Taoyuan union is demanding that the allocation be set at 15 percent of Micron Technology’s global operating profit.