While the luxury market has been struggling, Hermès, a French luxury group most well-known in the U.S. for its fabulously expensive Birkin bag, has been a bright spot, reporting higher-than-expected sales for 2024.
And now, that boosted bottom line is beefing up employees’ wallets.
Hermès’s more than 25,000 employees are getting a bonus of 4,500 euros (around $4,723) each, the company said on its 2024 financial report call on Friday.
“We are celebrating an excellent year, in a tougher environment,” said Executive Chairman Axel Dumas, per Reuters.
Hermès reported 4 billion euros ($4.1 billion) in sales in the fourth quarter, an 18% increase (at constant exchange rates), and 15.2 billion euros ($15.9 billion) in revenue for 2024, according to Business Insider.
Related: The Hermès Heir Who Planned to Leave Billions to His Gardener Now Says His Fortune Is Gone
“True to its commitment as a responsible employer and its willingness to share the fruits of growth with all those who contribute to it daily, Hermès will be giving out a bonus of €4,500 to all its employees worldwide at the beginning of the year in respect of 2024,” the report noted.
A Hermes Birkin bag in a window display at a KaDeWe department store in Berlin, Germany, on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. Yen Duong/Bloomberg | Getty Images
Hermès has been giving employees bonuses for at least the last five years, BI reported.
Birkin bags start at around $11,000 and can go up into hundreds of thousands — the most expensive for sale at press time at Sotheby’s is a “White Matte Niloticus Crocodile Himalaya Birkin 30 Palladium Hardware, 2020” for $220,000.
As any “Sex and the City” fan will know, there famously used to be a waitlist (sometimes topping five years) — but now, according to Vogue, the best way to buy a Birkin is to purchase one used from a reputable second-hand or vintage dealer.
However, if you insist on buying new, you’ll need to build a relationship with sales professionals at the store to snag a bag, and even then it could take years, Vogue adds.
With the new bonuses and rumored employee discounts, workers at Hermès are at least halfway to a new Birkin bag of their own.
