Taiwan shipping company gives employees bonuses equal to almost 2 years’ salary

SINGAPORE: The Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen Marine Corporation made the news earlier this week after announcing that, as a year-end bonus, it would be giving its employees the equivalent of 20 months’ salary for 2024.

This is on top of three months of additional pay that the company previously announced, which means employees will receive a bonus of nearly two years’ worth of salary.

According to a report in Taiwan News on Tuesday (Dec 31), the earnings per share of Evergreen Marine went up to NT$50.68 (approximately S$2.11). This could mean that after the year’s shareholder meeting, every worker employed by the company would receive an extra NT$190,000 (S$7,898.85) on top of the 20 months’ bonus, based on Evergreen Marine’s profits for the first three quarters of 2024 and a profit sharing percentage of 0.5 per cent.

If the company’s earnings for the last quarter of the year are even higher, their bonuses could go even higher.

The average salary an Evergreen Marine worker earns is NT$60,000 (S$2,495). Their year-end bonus is expected to be about NT$1.2 million (around S$50,000).

This is by no means the first time that the company has been generous with its employees, nor is it the biggest bonus Evergreen Marine has given. The company gave out up to 40 months’ pay for a year-end bonus in 2021. The following year, it gifted employees with a year-end bonus of up to 52 months’ pay.

Evergreen Marine’s generosity is all the more remarkable, given that, according to a report in The Straits Times, salaries in Taiwan have pretty much been stagnant over the past few years.

Taiwan News and NOWNews reported that in the first three quarters of 2024, the shipping giant saw a 239.4 per cent increase in net profits in comparison with last year. After taxes, Evergreen Marine’s net profit was NT$108.754 billion (S$4.5 billion).

The company was founded in September 1968 and began with just a single vessel named Central Trust. By 2002, its total fleet size had reached 130 vessels.

“Evergreen Marine’s outstanding profitability in 2024 is predicted to continue. With current freight rates, the ongoing Red Sea crisis, and a looming strike on the US East Coast in January, the company’s revenue and profits for the first quarter of next year are expected to keep rising,” Taiwan News said. /TISG

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