Samsung tightens belt: Board members to go without salary increases, average hike reduced to 4.1%
Many companies around the world are implementing strict cost-cutting measures to adapt to the current economic climate. While some firms, such as Amazon, Google, Meta, Twitter, and Salesforce, have announced significant layoffs, others are pursuing alternative methods to reduce expenses. In response to the industry's current condition, Samsung, a leading tech company, has also introduced new measures.
In the previous year, Samsung had committed to providing its employees with an average salary increase of 9%. However, this year, the company has lowered its average salary hike to 4.1%. Moreover, the tech giant has decided to suspend the raises of its board members for the current year. As per an IANS report, this decision has been taken due to poor performance resulting from a combination of a global slowdown and an excess of semiconductor chips.
Last year, Samsung made headlines with its announcement of a 9% salary increase, the highest in ten years. Following this, employees demanded an even greater hike of 16%, citing the company's strong revenues. Ultimately, the company reached a consensus with employee representatives on wage and labour policies, which included an extension of shortened working hours for pregnant employees.
In addition to its cost-cutting measures, Samsung appears to be directing its efforts towards AI development, with a particular interest in leveraging this technology to its advantage. A report by India Today suggested that the company is currently exploring the possibility of creating an in-house AI service similar to ChatGPT, which could assist employees with coding tasks and improve productivity. This news followed reports that Samsung employees had been cautioned against inputting sensitive information into ChatGPT, which had sparked widespread concern.
Sources suggest that the AI service Samsung is developing will only be accessible for internal use, thereby enabling the company to maintain a tight grip on security. According to an earlier report by The Economist Korea, a group of Samsung's semiconductor business employees in Korea purportedly disclosed confidential information to ChatGPT, sparking concerns about data security.
Samsung initially prohibited its servers from accessing ChatGPT but later permitted employee access to evaluate the chatbot's reception. However, given the security breach, the company is contemplating reinstating the ban.
Although rumours abound regarding Samsung's internal AI service, the company has yet to confirm its existence or release any details regarding its development timeline. Samsung has already integrated Bixby, an AI service akin to Google Assistant and Siri, into its smartphones and other electronic devices. It remains unclear whether the company intends to expand its AI offerings beyond consumer products and into internal corporate tools.