Taipei: Taiwan shipping giant Evergreen is handing out massive bonuses to its 3100 employees. After rewarding employees last December with year-end bonuses worth up to 52 months’ salary, the shipping giant will now give its staff mid-year bonuses worth another 10 to 11 months of salary for their 2022 performance, The Straits Times reported.
This brings the potential combined bonuses for 2022 to more than five years’ salary.
Evergreen said that the bonuses will be distributed according to the individual performance of workers. The company is spending a whopping $94 million, the cash will be given to workers through mid-year bonuses.
Yearly salaries at Evergreen can range between $29, 545 and $114,823.
According to The Straits Times, the company this week posted a record net profit of NT$334.2 billion (S$14.7 billion) for its financial year ending Dec 31, 2022 – an increase of 39.82 per cent year on year – thanks to the rebound of the global container shipping industry following the lifting of Covid-19 lockdowns in many countries, as well as soaring shipping prices.
The news of the 5 years bonus has been widely shared on social media. Many social media users said that they were “very envious” of the Evergreen Marine employees.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the recent payday may be as good as it gets for the foreseeable future, however. Shipping companies have warned that rapidly weakening global growth combined with falling freight rates are likely to hurt profitability this year. Evergreen Marine’s stock tumbled 54% last year after a stunning 250% gain in 2021.
