Tesco pay: thousands of supermarket staff to split £30m Save As You Earn reward from employee share schemes

• Tesco employees are set to share a £30 million windfall from Save as You Earn schemes
• Over 20,000 workers will benefit due to strong performance
• Employees in SAYE schemes can buy discounted shares, potentially earning substantial profits.
• Participation in Tesco's SAYE scheme, among the UK's largest, involves 52,000 employees
• Many employees use their scheme payouts for luxuries like holidays

Thousands of Tesco employees are poised to split a £30 million windfall from maturing share schemes.

The company said that over 20,000 workers will receive a substantial payout due to the strong performance of its Save as You Earn (SAYE) colleague share schemes. The majority of beneficiaries will be staff working in Tesco's stores and distribution centres.

The financial boost comes on the heels of a notable rise in the FTSE 100 group's share price, which has climbed by 20% in the last year to over 303p.

How does Tesco’s ‘Save as You Earn’ scheme work?

Employees who joined the schemes can buy shares at a discounted price, of 188p or 198p each, and either keep them for the longer term or sell on for a profit.

Those who invested the maximum £500 a month into the savings schemes stand to make a profit of almost £10,000 from the three-year scheme and almost £20,000 from the five-year scheme.

Tesco said there was an average employee investment of £68 a month in the scheme, and that someone who had invested that average for the last five years stands to net around £6,640 from their £4,080 investment, a profit of £2,560.

52,000 employees take part in Tesco’s SAYE scheme, which is one of the largest in the UK, and have invested £63.5m since 2019. Tesco said many of its employees use the schemes to pay for expensive treats like holidays.

Emma Taylor, Tesco chief people officer, said: “It’s great news that more than 20,000 colleagues will benefit this year from our share schemes.

“This is just one of the many benefits available to our colleagues, and the strong performance of the schemes this year is a reflection of their hard work and the brilliant job that they do serving our customers every day.

“Colleagues tell us they like this way of saving every month – and when Tesco performs well, they share in a multi-million pound payout or can keep shares bought at a discounted rate.

“This year the schemes’ success is rewarding our colleagues with thousands of pounds in profit, helping to boost their savings for everything from holidays to house renovations.”

We'd love to hear from you! Are you a Tesco employee benefiting from the SAYE scheme, or perhaps you have questions about how it works? Share your thoughts or questions in the comments section.