Samsung’s Strike Crisis and Meta’s Massive Layoffs —When AI Starts Taking Jobs, the Real Danger Isn’t Layoffs. It’s Believing Your Company Will Never Change.

Two recent international news stories deserve serious attention from every Taiwanese employee and business owner.

One involves Samsung employees preparing for a massive strike, driven by a simple question:“If the company is making enormous profits from AI chips, why aren’t employees sharing in the rewards?”

Although South Korea’s Minister of Labor stepped in at the last minute to mediate a temporary agreement and delay the strike, the incident nearly disrupted one of South Korea’s most critical industries and sparked a nationwide debate:Should the semiconductor industry be treated like the defense industry, with strikes restricted by law—or even constitutionally prohibited?

The other story is Meta’s large-scale layoffs.After cutting thousands of employees, Meta simultaneously committed hundreds of billions of dollars to AI investments. Even many middle managers who temporarily kept their jobs lost their leadership positions and were converted into individual contributors.

Many people in Taiwan see these stories as distant events happening overseas.

But in my view, they are actually a preview of what Taiwanese companies and workers will inevitably face within the next five years.

Taiwan, the United States, and South Korea are all deeply connected through the same AI supply chain and ecosystem. These labor disputes are not isolated incidents—they are early rehearsals for the future.

AI transformation, corporate governance, labor relations, digital transformation, layoff risks, semiconductor industries, workplace security, talent upgrading, compensation systems, and corporate culture are all simultaneously reshaping the future of work.

First, the scariest thing in the AI era is not unemployment—it’s that your job is being redefined.

Many people assume AI will mainly replace entry-level work. In reality, middle management and repetitive white-collar positions are among the first to be affected.

AI excels at organizing information, drafting reports, summarizing meetings, analyzing data, and managing workflows.

In other words, where one manager previously needed ten employees, the future may require only one manager plus AI tools to achieve the same results.

This is why more companies are embracing flatter organizational structures.

Take Meta as an example.Management positions became a major target during the layoffs. Meta has been actively promoting flatter organizations by reducing layers of managers, shrinking team sizes, and increasing AI collaboration. Many managers were either reassigned as individual contributors or eliminated entirely.

But here’s the important reminder:The people who will remain valuable are not necessarily those who simply “work the hardest.”

The truly irreplaceable individuals are those who can identify problems, define problems, and solve problems.

Many people can operate AI tools.Far fewer can assess risks, reassure clients, unite teams, make difficult decisions, and take responsibility.

Those abilities remain indispensable.

Second, companies that treat AI merely as a cost-cutting tool often lose their people in the process.

Many businesses today are asking:“How many employees can AI help us reduce?”

But mature companies should not focus solely on downsizing.They should focus on upgrading.

A company’s true competitiveness has never depended solely on technology.It depends on whether employees are still willing to move forward together.

If a company promotes AI transformation while forcing employees to live in constant fear, the outcome is usually predictable:The most capable people leave first, and those who remain stop speaking honestly.

And a company where no one dares to tell the truth is often the most dangerous kind of company.

Third, Taiwan’s next major labor disputes may no longer center on overtime—but on fairness in profit-sharing.

At the heart of Samsung’s conflict lies a simple frustration:

“The company is earning enormous profits. Why are only shareholders benefiting from the AI boom?”

“Why should departments generating huge profits receive the same bonus structure as departments still losing money?”

Similar disputes could easily emerge in Taiwan.

Semiconductor companies, AI server manufacturers, and electronics contractors have seen extraordinary profits in recent years. Yet many frontline employees increasingly feel that their salaries never grow as quickly as the companies themselves.

When that perception deepens, labor tensions inevitably rise.

In the future, what matters most is not only how much profit a company generates, but whether employees believe the company is willing to share success fairly.

Particularly under Article 37 of Taiwan’s Labor Incident Act, which creates presumptions regarding wage claims, companies may find themselves trapped in a difficult paradox:The more bonuses they distribute, the greater the potential labor dispute risks they may face.

Fourth, legally speaking, introducing AI does not automatically justify layoffs.

Many people mistakenly believe:“If a company adopts AI, layoffs become legally reasonable.”

That is not necessarily true.

Even if a company restructures due to organizational or operational changes, it must still comply with Taiwan’s labor laws.

This includes questions such as:

Has the nature of the business genuinely changed?Could affected employees be reassigned?Does the situation trigger mass layoff regulations?Are severance pay and advance notice handled lawfully?

More importantly, if a company claims “AI transformation” while secretly using it as an excuse to remove specific employees, it may face claims of unlawful termination.

Fifth, the most valuable talent in the future will not be the people who simply “do tasks well,” but those who collaborate well.

People often ask me:“Should we still work hard if AI can already do everything?”

My answer is yes—perhaps more than ever.

AI will rapidly level ordinary skills.What will truly differentiate people in the future are judgment, empathy, communication, and trust-building abilities.

This is why I believe professions such as law, medicine, education, consulting, and management will not disappear.But they will be fundamentally redefined.

Clients will no longer pay only for expertise.They will pay for reassurance—the confidence that someone is willing to take responsibility.

Sixth, the biggest cost companies overlook is emotional cost.

In recent years, I’ve noticed something striking:Many companies are willing to spend millions implementing AI systems, yet unwilling to spend even a few hours honestly discussing the future with employees.

But what destroys teams is often not layoffs themselves.It’s uncertainty.

People are not afraid of hard work.They are afraid of suddenly being abandoned.

Good HR management is therefore not only about systems.It is also about emotional management.

The employees who stay and fight alongside a company are not always those receiving the highest salaries.They are often the ones who feel respected.

Seventh, in the AI era, true progress is not about running the fastest—it’s about not leaving people behind.

Technology will continue advancing.AI will continue transforming the world.

But a truly mature society should not pursue efficiency alone.It should also ensure that people can retain dignity and hope during times of change.

A final reminder from Attorney Chen Yeh-Hsin:

There is nothing wrong with companies using AI tools to improve profitability.There is also nothing wrong with employees wanting fair treatment.

The real challenge is whether we can find a new balance—One where technology continues moving forward, while people still believe in the future.

And if workforce reductions become unavoidable due to AI adoption, companies must ask themselves:Have we truly complied with labor laws and fulfilled our legal responsibilities?

Because in the end, people rarely remember only how much money a company made.

What they remember is whether, when the world changed, the company chose to treat people fairly, lawfully, and with dignity.