A real estate company brought more than Christmas cheer to its employees when its president gave them $10 million (over P500 million) in bonuses last Saturday, Dec. 7.
St. John Properties had revealed that each of their 198 employees was to get a share of the bonus during their annual holiday party in Baltimore, Maryland, in the US.
The employees discovered how much of the said bonus was in store for each of them when they opened a red envelope during the party, as seen in a video of the event. Everyone was surprised upon finding out their share, and some were even brought to tears when they saw the amount.
Each employee was paid a bonus solely based on years of service, with the average employee receiving around $50,000 (over P2.5 million), as per a company statement last Monday, Dec. 9. The said bonus was in addition to the company’s annual yearend bonus and other benefits.
The company’s founder and chairman, Edward St. John, decided to surprise his employees with the bonus in celebration of achieving its goal of developing 20 million square feet of office space, retail and warehouses in eight states in the US.
“To celebrate the achievement of our goal, we wanted to reward our employees in a big way that would make a significant impact on their lives,” he said in the statement.
Some of the team members described the generous gesture as “life-changing” and “magical” while they wiped tears away.
“I steer the boat but they’re the ones that run the boat, they’re the ones that make the boat go,” St. John said, expressing his gratitude to the employees. “Without the team, we are nothing. We are absolutely nothing.” /ra
RELATED STORIES:
CEO gives over P1.5 million salary increase to employees
Employee finds $7K in jacket, gives it back to owner