Porsche said on Oct. 6 it would pay a bonus of 1,100 euros (US$1,600) to each of its full-time workers even though the company's sales have crashed.
Porsche employs around 12,000 people and has provided even bigger bonuses in the past, shelling out 3,800 euros per person in the 2007/2008 fiscal year.
In the 2008/2009 year that ended on July 31, Porsche sales fell by 12% according to provisional figures released last month.
The company is expected to announce in late November a sharp loss of up to five billion euros, largely owing to a revaluation of its stock market portfolio.
Porsche, which is now in the process of being taken over by Volkswagen, the biggest European carmaker, sought through the gesture to "thank its staff for their commitment and devotion," a statement said.
A survey published on Oct. 6 by Manager Magazine showed that the Porsche family suffered the biggest losses of all German billionaires in the past year, with their failed attempt to take over VW triggering a 71% or 11-billion-euro fall in the value of their assets.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009
