High-rise buildings in Canary Wharf financial, business and shopping district in London, UK.
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average FTSE100 Think tank High Pay Center estimates that CEOs will earn more this year than the median annual salary of full-time workers by 1pm London time on Thursday.
Calculations show that the UK’s top companies will cross this milestone an hour earlier than in 2023, with major bankers set to cross this milestone on January 17th.
The calculations are based on analysis by the Center for High Pay, which compares the latest CEO pay figures available from the annual reports of the UK’s blue-chip companies with government data on pay levels across the UK economy.
According to the think tank, the median salary (excluding pensions) for FTSE 100 CEOs is now £3.81 million ($4.84 million), 109 times the median salary for full-time workers of £34,963. This represents a 9.5% increase in the CEO’s median salary level as of March 2023, and a 6% increase in the median employee salary.
“Big business and financial services industry lobbyists will spend much of 2023 arguing that Britain’s highest earners are not being paid enough and are too concerned about the gap between the ultra-wealthy and everyone else. I spent my time advocating for it,” said Luke Hildyard, director of the High Pay Center. .
“They believe that economic success comes from a small number of people at the top, with the rest contributing little. If politicians listen to these false opinions, they will end up with large-scale It is no surprise that inequality would arise and the standard of living would stagnate for the majority of the population. ”
Leading figures in British business and finance have called for increased pay for UK CEOs in 2023. The High Pay Center highlighted that Legal and General Investment Management adjusted its executive compensation guidelines in December to allow portfolio companies to make more generous incentive payments.
Julia Hoggett, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, said in May that executive pay levels were too low, posing a risk to Britain’s ability to attract and retain elite talent at home and abroad, and potentially putting the economy at risk. He claimed to have exposed it.
“However, very often this talent target provides advice to vote against the executive remuneration policies of agencies and some asset managers, even where pay levels are well below global norms. and analytics,” it said in a post on the exchange. Website.
“In many cases, the same agents and asset managers that oppose remuneration levels in the UK are also endorsing much higher remuneration packages in various jurisdictions, particularly the US.”
S&P500 According to the AFL-CIO, the average annual salary for U.S. CEOs in 2022 was $16.7 million, compared to the average annual salary for full-time workers of $61,900.
Mr Hoggett said “constructive discussions with all stakeholders on topics that tend to generate emotions and strong opinions” were essential for the UK to be globally competitive.
“Sneaky levels of wage disparity”
The Trades Union Congress, which represents 48 member unions across the UK, said Thursday’s figures show Britain’s ruling Conservative government is presiding over “exorbitant levels of pay inequality”.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said in a statement: “Working people are being forced to suffer the longest wage squeeze in modern history, while city bosses are granted big pay rises and bankers receive unlimited bonuses. It has been given to me.”
A Treasury spokesperson told CNBC there was no immediate comment.
British workers and households have endured a historic cost of living crisis over the past two years, while the tax burden continues to rise, reaching a post-war high of 37.7% of gross domestic product in 2028/29. It is expected that it will reach . Submit to the independent Office for Budget Responsibility. This is despite the recently announced reduction in National Insurance tax for workers.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, one of the UK’s largest trade unions with more than 1.2 million members, said the union “will not tolerate employers who demand one set of rules for bosses and another set of rules for workers”. ” he said.
“CEOs need to step out of the picture and give their employees their proper share of the pie. Unite has a mission to pay for work in this country and if employers have the ability to pay, we will “continues to demand and continue to win ‘decent pay raises for our members,'” she added.
