Hermes, French luxury fashion giant has announced to pay a one-time bonus of €4,000 (approximately Rs 3.5 lakh) to each of its staff member at the end of the year. The Paris based design firm specialises in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear and has 19,700 employees globally.
As per the reports, the bonus will be paid at the end of February. The bonus follows the 6 percent increase in salaries of employees based in France in 2022 and the €100 (approximately Rs 8,700) increase granted in January last year and renewed in July, French publication Le Monde reported.
The CEO of Hermes, Axel Dumas presented the annual bonuses at a meeting with analysts and said that 12,400 Hermes employees in France will receive the equivalent of 17 months' salary annually, including profit-sharing and incentive bonuses. In 2022, Hermes added 2,100 employees to its global headcount with average salaries rising 6 percent.
According to the company, the bonus payment is a part of "value sharing" and coincides with an increase in the amount of dividends paid out to shareholders.
The sales for the company renowned for its hand-sewn handbags increased by 23 percent to €11.6 billion in 2022 and the Net profit reached €3.4 billion, Business of Fashion reported. As a result, Hermes, top-end leather-goods maker, which had fallen behind was able to regain its position as luxury fashion’s third-biggest brand.
Furthermore, the Covid outbreak in China had no effect on them, but it did on Hermes' rivals. Le Monde cited Dumas as stating, "We have not experienced a decline in traffic to our stores in China." According to Le Monde, Hermes created 2,100 jobs in one year, including 1,400 in France and its workforce has doubled over the last 10 years.
