Maersk, World's Largest Shipping Firm, Gives Workers $80M Bonus

Maersk said it will give $1,000 each to about 80,000 employees worldwide as the Danish shipping giant, the world’s biggest, posted its most profitable quarter in its 117-year history last month, Huileng Tan reported for Business Insider.

Photo Insert: Maersk vessels at Kleven Yard

The bonus applies to about 80,000 of the Danish company's employees worldwide, bringing the total amount to $80 million, reported Denmark's Borsen newspaper and Bloomberg, citing an internal memo. The 400 most senior managers will not get the bonus.

"In a massive team effort our colleagues across the globe have risen beyond the call of duty to respond to our customers' needs," CEO Soren Skou said in the memo, per Bloomberg.

"And this has not been easy given the unknowns and disruptions that we had to deal with, the impacted supply chains, congestions, and capacity shortages," he said.

Maersk posted its most profitable quarter in its 117-year history last month, more than quadrupling its third-quarter operating profits to $5.9 billion as the global shipping and supply chain crisis led to record container freight rates.

The shipping company expects its fourth quarter to be equally as profitable, with a gross profit between $6 billion to $7 billion, as shipping rates and consumer demand showed no signs of abating.

In fact, this year is such a bumper year for Maersk that the shipper was set to report the biggest profit in Danish corporate history, according to Sydbank A/S analyst Mikkel Emil Jensen, per Bloomberg.

Maersk also gave a $1,000 bonus to most employees last year when it reported $2.9 billion in profits.

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