TNB Tech Minute: Thousands of Samsung Workers Go on Three-Day Strike

[00:00:01] Here's your TNB Tech Minute for Monday, July 8. I'm Zoe Thomas for The Wall Street Journal. Thousands of Samsung Electronics unionized workers in South Korea are taking part in a three-day strike, according to union leaders. The National Samsung Electronics Union, which claims to represent nearly a quarter of the

[00:00:20] company's workforce, said that about 6,500 workers went on strike across South Korea today. The union leaders said workers are pressing for higher wages and better working conditions. Samsung is the world's largest maker of memory chips and smartphones. It said there were no immediate disruptions to production.

[00:00:40] Salaries and pay packages of chief information officers are reaching new heights, helped by the artificial intelligence boom. The gains reflect how corporate tech leaders are increasingly taking on new AI-related responsibilities. Over the past year, compensation for CIOs at large enterprises increased by around 7.5 percent on average.

[00:01:01] Among mid-size enterprises, compensation increased 9 percent. That's according to salary data from consulting firm Janco Associates. According to IT executive recruiting firm Heller Search Associates, overall CIO and chief technology officer compensation is up more than 20 percent since 2019, with boosts to base pay and equity packages.

[00:01:25] And Shanghai has been added to a list of Chinese cities allowing driverless robo-taxis to operate without safety supervisors present. City officials said over the weekend that residents in parts of the city can now book free rides in self-driving cabs from four companies.

[00:01:42] The move follows similar initiatives in three other major Chinese cities. It's part of the country's efforts to take a global lead in autonomous driving and commercialize the technology. For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Tuesday's Tech News Briefing podcast.