Samsung Electronics has expanded its stock-based bonus programme to cover its entire workforce, giving employees the option to receive a portion of their annual performance incentives in company shares, a benefit that was previously reserved for senior leadership.
According to reports, Samsung informed employees this month that they can choose to take between 0% and 50% of their 2025 performance bonus in Samsung stock. The bonuses are scheduled to be paid on January 30, with the stock option available in 10% increments.
Employees who prefer cash can still opt to receive their full bonus in cash.
As an added incentive, employees who choose shares and agree to hold them for at least one year will receive an upfront grant equal to 15% of the stock amount.
However, the value of the stock-based bonus will be adjusted if Samsung’s share price declines during the one-year holding period. The move marks a significant shift in Samsung’s compensation policy.
Until now, stock-based bonuses were largely mandatory for executives. Registered executives were required to receive 100% of their performance bonuses in shares, while presidents and vice presidents had to take at least 80% and 70% respectively.
Under the revised framework, executives must still take a minimum portion of their bonuses in stock, while general employees now have the flexibility to participate voluntarily.
The change comes at a time when Samsung’s share price has risen sharply over the past year. The stock has been trading around 140,000 Korean won, with some securities firms setting target prices as high as 200,000 won. As a result, the company’s stock price trajectory has become a major talking point internally.
Employees are actively weighing the risks and rewards of opting for shares. Some argue that even a 15% drop in the stock price would still leave them breaking even due to the additional grant, while others remain cautious, citing potential headwinds such as a slowdown in memory chip prices later in the year.
Discussions around where the stock will be one year, and even three years, from now have intensified.
Last year, Samsung also introduced a separate long-term incentive known as Performance-Linked Stock Compensation (PSU), which ties payouts to the company’s share price three years from the grant date. Under this scheme, employees receive the full allotment of shares only if the stock rises at least 40% from a base price of 85,385 won.
With the stock already up more than 60% from that level, potential payouts have increased, though the final outcome remains uncertain.
Executives, meanwhile, face even higher exposure to stock price movements.
Managing directors are required to take at least 50% of their bonuses in shares, vice presidents 70%, presidents 80%, and registered executives the full amount. If the stock price falls, their bonuses are directly reduced.
While shares can be sold after a holding period of up to two years, disclosure requirements make selling difficult, leading some executives to hold the stock until retirement.
Industry experts note that equity-based compensation is a common tool used to attract, retain and motivate employees.
J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions has said such schemes encourage employees to “think like owners,” aligning individual performance more closely with company outcomes.
For Samsung, extending the stock-based bonus scheme beyond the executive suite signals a broader push to tie employee rewards more closely to long-term corporate performance—while placing the company’s share price firmly at the centre of internal conversations.