The largest French companies have favored their shareholders to the detriment of their employees in the redistribution of added value since 2018, according to the NGO Oxfam, which denounces a “disconnection”, in a report released Monday, June 26.
Between 2011 and 2017, “payments to shareholders and expenditure per employee [sic] evolve together » before a “clean break” in 2018, notes Oxfam in this study on “dividend inflation” of the hundred largest French companies listed on the Stock Exchange.
“While payouts to shareholders jump 40% in line with growth in value added, spending per employee begins to stagnate” from 2018, observes the NGO.
Lack of investment in the ecological transition
In addition to the imbalance in the sharing of value, the NGO regrets the lack of investment by these companies, particularly in the energy transition.
“In 2019, 45% of dividends and share buybacks paid to shareholders would have been enough to cover their investment needs in the ecological transition”estimates Oxfam, which notes that“on average 71% of profits” of these companies have been redistributed to their shareholders, from 2011 to 2021, in the form of dividends or share buybacks. The policies of the energy company Engie, the manufacturer of seamless tubes Vallourec and the mining company Eramet are targeted, among others.
Oxfam is calling for the payment of dividends to be conditional by law on the establishment of“a decent wage across the entire value chain”as well as“an ambitious climate strategy” and an investment plan agreed with the company’s social and economic committee. The NGO also wants the abolition of the single lump sum levy on dividends (“flat tax”) and the conditioning of public aid to the ceiling on capital income.