The Shell oil company has decided to grant a “special recognition bonus” to almost all of its employees worldwide, equivalent to 8% of their annual salary. Among its 82,000 employees, only the most senior will not qualify.
A gesture “in recognition of his contribution to Shell’s solid operating performance in a difficult context,” the company explains in an email quoted by Bloomberg.
Shell can afford it. The oil and gas giant posted excellent results for its second quarter of the year last week. Its benefit reached 11,500 million dollars, 26% more than in the first three months of the year.
profit record
A direct consequence of the increase in hydrocarbon prices since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. All the oil groups are benefiting from this, with profits reaching record levels in recent months.
Good news for Shell employees with dark years. During the health crisis, the company laid off between 7,000 and 9,000 employees worldwide, froze bonuses and capped wages to limit losses.
Taxes on windfall profits in several countries
The oil giants have been singled out since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, accused of being “war profiteers”. Several countries, including Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, have imposed taxes on super-profits or windfalls of oil companies.
Such taxation was rejected by French parliamentarians during the examination of the draft amending budget for 2022. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, as well as other members of the government opposed it, preferring a gesture in favor of the purchasing power of the French.
“I prefer that companies contribute directly than they collect a tax again, a kind of Pavlovian reflex in France: as soon as there is a difficulty, a tax. As soon as there is a good result, a tax. As soon as there is a problem, a tax ”, he criticized, stressing that “companies can and should contribute in another way”.
Source: BFM TV
