SK Hynix announced on June 4 that its social value generated last year was 3.58 trillion won (some $2.9 billion), down 63 percent from the previous year.
By sector, "economic indirect contribution performance" such as tax payment, employment, and dividends amounted to 4.05 trillion won, while "business social performance" generated in the social (labor/co-growth) and environmental areas during the process of developing, producing and selling products was -539.8 billion won, and "social performance" for local communities was 69.3 billion won.
Compared to 2018, the performance of indirect economic contribution decreased by 60%, the social performance of social contribution decreased by 8%, and the negative impact on business social performance increased by 5%.
The performance of indirect contribution to the economy fell the most as the tax on semiconductors decreased 92% year-on-year due to worsening market conditions. However, the number of its Korean employees (including subsidiaries) increased by 3,186 (11%) year-on-year to 31,508 at the end of 2019.
The overall negative impact of business social performance has grown as the use of power and other resources has increased due to the expansion of factories and increased production. In particular, the total environmental performance was -817.7 billion won, up 15 percent from 2018 .
SK Hynix is planning to make efforts to develop energy saving solutions based on AI (Artificial Intelligence) to reduce electricity use that has the most negative impact on the environment in the future and actively push for renewable energy use at all businesses including overseas businesses. It is also planning to accelerate development of low-power products in semiconductor development.
There have been significant achievements in the field of shared growth. Performance in the sector jumped 36 percent year-on-year to 167.1 billion won, thanks to semiconductor education for suppliers, expanded recruitment support programs and 28.9 billion won in special production incentives for contractors.
In order to accelerate the creation of social values, SK Hynix has selected the three core strategies _ Minimizing environmental impact for sustainable growth, strengthening mutual growth of small and medium businesses to secure superior talents in semiconductor and the establishment of a social safety net.
Meanwhile, SK Hynix conducted a survey of local communities, customers, partners and shareholders last year on how to create social values, and the survey found that stakeholders evaluated employment, tax payment and environmental areas as areas that SK Hynix should focus on.
"Social performance has decreased significantly compared to 2018," said Kim Yoon-wook in charge of sustainable management at SK Hynix. "We will actively push for energy reduction and low-power semiconductor development, especially in environmental areas where negative effects are growing."