The bonus cut isn’t totally unexpected. Samsung offers its employees performance incentives, which is a reward program that gives employees as much as 50 percent of their annual salaries as a bonus if that division falls within 20 percent of the company’s excess profits. The bonus percentage for the mobile division, it seems, has been reduced from 50 percent to 17 percent.
Samsung employees in the mobile division have been receiving the maximum 50 percent bonuses for the past few years thanks to strong smartphone sales. According to the SamMobile report, this is the first time in six years that the bonus falls under the 20 percent mark.
It’s important to note that Samsung has not confirmed the information, but it would not be surprising if it turned out to be true — the Galaxy Note 7 was supposed to be Samsung’s time to shine but as you are probably aware, the device ended up being the source of a nightmare for the company. After the Galaxy Note 7 started shipping, reports began to surface saying that some units were catching fire while they charged, causing Samsung to issue a recall and replace phones with new ones. The only issue with that? The replacement phones began catching fire too, prompting a total recall of all Galaxy Note 7 phones in exchange for a full refund.
