Decathlon grants 2,000 euros worth of free shares to global employees

Sportswear retail giant Decathlon is doubling down on its employee ownership model by introducing a new scheme that grants eligible employees 2,000 euros in free shares or asset incentives.

Dubbed ‘The Decathlon Seed’, the initiative intends to “reflect the diversity of the group while maintaining a shared principle of fairness and value sharing”. The project allows staff to become “partners, co-owners, and co-responsible contributors to the company’s growth”, a press release explained.

Each employee will receive an allocation worth 2,000 euros, which will vest after three years. During that time, the value of the allocation will evolve alongside the company’s performance.

The launch of the programme, developed over the course of a year, comes as Decathlon celebrates its 50th anniversary. It expands on the company’s long-existing value proposition of sharing success, evident in the more than 56,000 employees that are already shareholders in the business.

Decathlon CEO, Javier López, commented: "With The Decathlon Seed, we are investing in the future by building on one of Decathlon's core values for the past 50 years: sharing the value we create together.

“The initiative is the result of collective work carried out with all our markets and our family shareholders, and reflects our conviction that value is created on the ground and should be shared with those who create it."