Decathlon is expanding its employee ownership model with the launch of a new global scheme that will hand eligible staff €2,000 in free shares or asset incentives.
The sports retailer said The Decathlon Seed initiative was designed to widen share ownership across the business and give more of its workers a direct stake in the company’s future growth.
The move comes as Decathlon celebrates its 50th anniversary and builds on a long-running value-sharing model that dates back to 1987.
More than 56,000 Decathlon employees are already shareholders in the business, representing 54 per cent of its global workforce.
Under the new scheme, eligible staff around the world will receive an allocation worth €2,000, which will vest after three years. During that time, the value of the allocation will move in line with the company’s performance.
Decathlon said the programme had been developed over more than a year, involving subsidiaries, local teams and family shareholders, with the aim of reflecting the diversity of its global business while maintaining a shared approach to fairness and value sharing.
Decathlon chairman Julien Leclercq said: “Employee share ownership has been part of Decathlon’s DNA for decades. Today, we are taking a new step forward in our value-sharing policy.
“By giving our teammates the opportunity to participate more directly in the future value creation of the company, we are choosing to build a sustainable project together, founded on trust, commitment, and collective success.”
Chief executive Javier López added: “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.”
Decathlon, which was founded in 1976, operates 1,902 stores worldwide and employs more than 102,900 staff.
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