TSMC confirms its dividend payout ratio has been cut to 10% to buy green energy; employees are furious: Why should corporate social responsibility be taken out of my own pocket? A wave of voices calling for unions is rising

TSMC confirms employee bonus allocation ratio has decreased from about 12% to 10%, Wei Zhe-jia cites ESG investment as the reason and promises a 30% increase in total bonus amount, but employees' relative sense of deprivation and doubts about the distribution logic have far from been alleviated.
(Background summary: Rumors that TSMC will cut bonuses spark online outrage that top executives take the profits first, calling for the #LeaveWorkTurnOffPhones movement)
(Additional background: Taiwan stocks soar 1,200 points to new highs! MediaTek and Delta Electronics hit daily limit-ups, TSMC rises by 55 NT dollars)

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• Wei Zhe-jia personally addresses the business trip cancellation
• Frontline employees' anger remains unresolved
• Employee discussion groups and union topics continue to heat up
• Public opinion is polarized

TSMC's Q1 2026 financial report shines, with revenue up 35.1% year-over-year and EPS up 58.3%, but internally, a rare employee storm has erupted. Many employees collectively complain in the "TSMC Big and Small Matters" Facebook group, with some shouting "Learn from Samsung strike," others calling for "forming a union," directly questioning: Company profits hit a new high, why is the profit-sharing ratio shrinking?

Wei Zhe-jia personally addresses the business trip cancellation

As the topic fermented, TSMC Chairman Wei Zhe-jia hosted a nationwide video briefing yesterday (27th), officially admitting that the company's employee bonus allocation ratio this year has been reduced from about 12% of last year's after-tax net profit to 10%.

Regarding the reason for the ratio reduction, Wei explained that the cut mainly funds ESG sustainability investments, including purchasing green electricity and responding to rising electricity costs, to fulfill corporate social responsibility.

However, Wei emphasized that the ratio reduction did not lead to a decrease in total bonus amount; benefiting from significant profit growth last year, the actual total bonus paid to employees will still increase by about 30% compared to last year.

In recent years, TSMC's financial scale has rapidly expanded. With profit base continuously growing, even if the allocation ratio drops from 12% to 10%, as long as the company's annual net profit continues to rise, the total pool remains larger than the previous year. Wei's "more than 30% increase" promise is based on this logic.

Frontline employees' anger remains unresolved

However, the claim that "total bonus amount increased by 30%" has not calmed some frontline employees' anger, because the core issue is not the number but what the "profit-sharing ratio" itself signifies.

When employees work hard, achieving an impressive 58% increase in EPS, but their profit-sharing ratio drops from 12% to 10%, that two percentage point gap can easily offset the 30% increase in total bonus amount.

What’s even harder for some employees to accept is the company's reasoning. Wei explained that the 2% reduction mainly funds ESG sustainability projects, including green electricity purchases and responding to rising electricity costs.

The problem is: rising electricity costs are operational expenses for TSMC, and green electricity procurement is a branding and compliance obligation… Why should these expenses be deducted from employees’ bonus pool? In employees’ eyes, ESG is a corporate image project, shareholders enjoy the premium position in the global supply chain, but the frontline employees’ profit share is used to absorb these costs, making it emotionally difficult to accept.

Employee discussion groups and union topics continue to heat up

In response to dissatisfaction over bonus cuts, more employees have upgraded their complaints to organized actions.

A post appeared today in the "TSMC Big and Small Matters" group, where an anonymous senior employee openly stated plans to organize a union next year, aiming to get the organization up and running within a year before retiring. He admitted he is financially free and has no need for a pension, so he is not worried about HR retaliation. The post immediately sparked lively discussion within the group.

Public opinion is polarized

There are voices in public opinion such as: "TSMC engineers earn hundreds of thousands, yet still complain about bonuses, how shameless." This reaction is understandable but falls into a common logical fallacy: equating "already earning well" with "not deserving to fight for more."

Employees' right to defend their labor rights has never depended on their current salary level. A worker earning 30,000 a month can protest unfair distribution, and so can an engineer earning 300,000 a month; job position and salary amount are not reasons to give up bargaining chips.

The more fundamental issue is: TSMC employees have created historic profits, yet their profit-sharing ratio has been cut. This is entirely separate from "high salary." If earning a high salary means one cannot question unfair distribution, then that reasoning is clearly absurd.