Fat Cat Tuesday explodes the myth that we are 'all in this together'
Company executives will have earned more by this afternoon than many people will earn in the whole of 2016, according to the High Pay Centre.
Analysis published today finds top bosses will pass the average UK full-time salary of £27,645 later today – only two working days into the new year.
The independent think tank reports that FTSE 100 chief executives are paid an average £4.96 million each year, or around £1,200 per hour.
Bonuses have also increased, with ‘incentives’ for the same CEOs rising by almost 50 per cent since last year.
By contrast, annual pay for average workers has increased by only £445, from £27,200 to £27,645.
The High Pay Centre has called for workers to be represented on company remuneration committees, which set executive salaries, and said companies should publish the pay gap between their top and median paid employees.
Stefan Stern, director of the HPC, said:
“Fat Cat Tuesday again highlights the continuing problem of the unfair pay gap in the UK.
We are not all in this together, it seems.
Over-payment at the top is fuelling distrust of business, at a time when business needs to demonstrate that it is part of the solution to harsh times and squeezed incomes and is promoting a recovery in which all employees can benefit.”
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said:
“Every worker deserves a fair share of the wealth they help create.
But the average weekly wage is still worth £40 a week less than before the financial crisis.
The government must start making the right choices to deliver a fair economy with fair pay, like giving workers more collective pay bargaining rights.”
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2 Responses to “Top bosses have earned more in 2016 already than most people will earn all year”
sean connor
Big business in Britain does not give a fig about the working class. Wages of the ordinary workers rose by just 1% in London. The wages of CEOs went up by 10%. House prices in London increased by 8% with workers wages being cut back by having an increase, really a wage cut, of just 1%. London is being financially cleansed to allow the global bent Oligarchs to be housed. The only answer, are policies of the democratic left. Socialism is still the only answer to the crooks who run big business.
David Davies
There is a very real distinction between ` earns’ and `gets paid’, especially when you are chums with the remuneration committee members.