While many companies around the world cut costs during the pandemic, shipping companies bucked the trend with bumper gains.
Their employees are apparently still reaping the rewards, with Taiwanese shipping company Yang Ming giving up to 30 months’ salary to their lucky staff.
Source: YANG MING Shipping Europe GmbH on Facebook
This follows Taiwanese rival Evergreen’s approval of about 12 months’ bonus to their staff.
Yang Ming Marine Transport will disburse the mega bonus to their staff on their next payday, reported Bloomberg.
Its shareholders approved the bonus last week, said the news agency, quoting an Economic Daily News report.
This will cost the company about NT$2.3 billion (S$101 million).
The up to 30 months’ bonus averages out to about NT$1.34 million (S$58,800) per staff member, according to the Taipei Times.
This is on top of the year-end bonus of 12 months of salary that was given to them at the beginning of the year.
Source: YANG MING Shipping Europe GmbH on Facebook
The bonuses are being given out according to the company’s charter, which states that they must pay at least 1% of its profits as mid-year bonuses to staff.
The payout amount for each staff member is at the company’s discretion. Their employees earn an average monthly salary of NT$50,000 (S$2,200).
Yang Ming saw a record after-tax profit of NT$180.6 billion (S$7.93 billion) for 2022, it said in a press release in March.
Their consolidated sales also set a record high of NT$375.9 billion (S$16.5 billion).
This was driven by strong demand and high average freight rates in the container shipping market.
The results were consistent with that enjoyed by global shipping firms, which saw a surge in container freight rates during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Evergreen Marine will pay their staff a relatively paltry mid-year bonus of about 12 months’ salary.
This will cost the company about NT1.918 billion (S$84.1 million).
This is after the company reported a record after-tax profit of NT$334.2 billion (S$14.7 billion) for 2022.
Their shareholders approved the bonus at a meeting on Tuesday (30 May), according to the Economic Daily News.
Evergreen previously made headlines in January for rewarding employees with up to 52 months’ worth of bonuses for the year 2022.
The average monthly salary of Evergreen’s 3,100 workers is NT$60,000 (S$2,600).
While the good times are currently rolling, shipping companies don’t see them sustaining for long.
Since the fourth quarter (4Q) of 2022, purchasing power has been diminished by inflation and high inventory levels, Yang Ming noted.
Source: YANG MING Shipping Europe GmbH on Facebook
Analysts estimate that Yang Ming’s profit will fall 99% to NT$2.2 billion (S$96.5 million).
Evergreen will see their net income drop 94% to NT$18.6 billion (S$816 million).
Evergreen president Eric Hsieh was quoted by the Taipei Times as saying that the global shipping industry could weaken in 1Q, but rebound in 2Q.
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Featured image adapted from YANG MING Shipping Europe GmbH on Facebook.
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