Decathlon tries to win over dissatisfied employees with a share scheme

Shortly after social unrest flared up at Decathlon, CEO Javier Lopez Segovia promised his employees the equivalent of about 2,000 euros in stock. The unions reacted with skepticism.

“Plenty of publicity”

The timing of the announcement is likely no coincidence. On Saturday, June 6, thousands of Decathlon employees in France went on strike because they see their purchasing power declining while the company posted a 16% increase in net profit last year. Tensions between the unions and management have been simmering for months.

Now, the CEO of the sports retailer has announced the launch of a new stock plan, “Decathlon Seed.” Under this plan, all eligible employees will receive shares worth 2,000 euros. Such a stock plan is not new at the company: currently, 56,000 employees are already shareholders. That number could rise to 90,000 out of a total of 103,000 employees worldwide.

However, the unions have reacted rather scornfully to the announcement. “The fact that the measures won’t take effect for another three years offers no solution to the problems surrounding immediate purchasing power and the financial difficulties at the end of the month that, unfortunately, low-wage workers have to contend with,” said Sébastien Chauvin, a CFDT union representative, in a statement to the AFP news agency. He denounced the plan as “a lot of hype and plenty of publicity.”