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Employees of TSMC, the world's biggest chip fab, are reportedly threatening to strike over what they see as an unfair share of bumper AI-fuelled profits. The news follows the ongoing dispute between Samsung and its workforce over pay.
Digitimes reports that Taiwan-based TSMC was planning to actually cut employee bonuses by 15% despite "soaring" profits. TSMC employees consequently spoke out on social media, including Facebook groups, threatening to follow the strike action of Samsung workers in South Korea.
Digitimes says that TSMC responded by promising that, "employee profit-sharing bonuses, which are based on performance evaluations, will see a higher annual growth rate than in 2025."
Earlier today, it was reported that TSMC's chairman CC Wei has cancelled a business trip to hold an online meeting tomorrow with employees to discuss TSMC's bonus structure.
Some observers think that TSMC's original plans to reduce bonuses was driven by increased investment needs. The company is said to be currently investing over $50 billion annually in new production facilities across Taiwan, the US, Japan and Germany in an attempt to maintain its technological and market leadership as the world's leading customer chip fab.
Of course, exactly where you sit on this subject will depend on your perspective. According to one source, the average annual employee bonus at TSMC is $90,000, which is not insignificant.
On the other hand, TSMC raked in record profits of $54 billion in 2025, in part thanks to the ongoing AI boom. TSMC is variously reported as having around 80,000 to 90,000 employees. Taking the larger number, that's $600,000 in profit per employee.
Of course, TSMC also pays dividends to shareholders, as I understand it at a recent rough rate of about $5 billion per quarter. So, that's $20 billion paid out in dividends, or thereabouts.
You also have to factor in the investment plans mentioned above, even if TSMC's reported profits come after such investments. The company may want to retain profit to help fund even more future investment.
Put simply, deciding on what is a "fair" rate for employee bonuses probably isn't simple. But it will presumably be thrashed out at tomorrow's meeting between TSMC's chairman and the online gathering of employees.
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