EUROPEANCHAPTER

Around 5,700 Jet2 employees are set to share a £58 million payout as the airline’s first sharesave scheme, launched in August 2022, matures, with returns boosted by an 84% rise in share price. Employees who participated can either hold or sell their shares, with typical investors seeing gains of several thousand pounds depending on their monthly contributions. Following this success, Jet2 has introduced three more sharesave schemes for over 8,900 employees, alongside ongoing salary increases, profit-sharing, and bonus schemes to reward staff for their customer-focused performance.

Despite a year of global economic, political, and environmental challenges, most multinational companies remain committed to employee well-being, offering programs like counseling through Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and promoting healthy work-life balance. Encouraging managers to model boundaries and use PTO helps prevent burnout, retain top talent, and support employees with caring responsibilities. Forbes’ 2025 World’s Best Employers ranking, based on surveys of over 300,000 employees in 50+ countries, highlights 900 companies excelling in pay, career growth, work-life balance, and overall reputation.

Elis has launched its 2025 “Elis for All” employee share ownership plan, offering eligible employees in France and 20 other countries the chance to subscribe to company shares through two capital increases capped at €2 million (0.85% of share capital). The plan uses a classic structure with a 30% discount on the reference share price and a matching contribution of one free share for every 10 subscribed, with holding periods of five years in France and three years internationally. The subscription period runs from 16 September to 2 October 2025, with new shares expected to be admitted to trading on Euronext Paris after completion in November 2025.

Many incentive plans rely on binary, high-risk equity like growth shares, which suit founders but can be unfair for professional hires who face the risk of ending up with nothing. Pairing growth shares with a lower-volatility instrument like a CSOP creates a balanced incentive stack, preserving upside while cushioning modest outcomes and keeping executives engaged. Ultimately, good incentive design is risk design: combining armour and ammunition manages downside as well as upside, which is essential in volatile markets.

The UK’s new Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES), launched in 2025 under a five-year regulatory sandbox, creates a regulated platform for intermittent trading of private company shares, bridging the gap between private and public markets. It provides liquidity for employees and early investors, offers pension funds and institutions access to private equity in line with regulatory goals, and allows companies to control trading parameters while retaining capital structure flexibility. While PISCES enhances transparency and capital formation, it does not guarantee continuous liquidity or raise new capital, making due diligence and governance alignment critical for both investors and private firms.