The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price is heading north today.
This follows the company's latest announcement regarding an incentive plan for its staff around the world.
At the time of writing, the travel agent shares are climbing 1.84% to $17.73.
Flight Centre set to reward its global staff
Investors are bidding up the Flight Centre share price which dropped almost 15% in the past week. Bargain hunters are taking advantage of the share price weakness following 4 trading days of consecutive losses.
After yesterday's market close, Flight Centre advised that a number of employees will be part of a multi-million-dollar retention initiative.
Roughly 10,000 sales and support staff will receive additional share rights under the extended Global Retention Rights (GRR) program. However, this will be granted on the proviso that they continue their Flight Centre careers during the COVID-19 recovery phase.
Introduced during FY22, the GRR program aims to offset COVID-19's impact on businesses and their people for another 12 months.
The proposed FY23 offering will see a one-time grant of share rights valued at $3,750 to each eligible staff member. For those workers who aren't located where the company doesn't operate share plans, a similar cash benefit will be paid.
The FY23 rights are expected to be issued to employees in August 2022. This will vest when the company releases its half-yearly results in February 2024. From there, GRR participants who meet the conditions will be able to convert the rights to Flight Centre shares.
The GRR program is expected to cost between $30 million and $35 million.
What did management say?
Flight Centre managing director, Graham Turner commented:
The GRR program is a material investment in the people who are integral to both our recovery and our future success and we believe it is contributing to the healthy overall retention rates we are seeing.
It is first and foremost a retention program that encourages our people to continue their careers with us during what we believe will be an important period in our recovery. Travel is rebounding but there is added complexity, which once again underlines the value of our people and their expertise.
Flight Centre share price summary
Since this time last year, Flight Centre shares have travelled 16% higher as the travel sector begins to recover.
Although when looking at year-to-date, its shares have remained relatively stagnant following the latest market downturn across international markets.
On valuation grounds, Flight Centre commands a market capitalisation of roughly $3.55 billion.
