The average pay of CEOs of FTSE 100 companies rose to £3.4m in 2021, compared to £2.5m in 2020 during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, when many bosses took voluntary pay cuts as they placed million employees leave of absence. CEO pay has also surpassed the £3.25m median recorded in 2019, before the pandemic. The jump in executive pay means the average UK chief executive now earns 109 times the salary of the average British worker, up from 79 times in 2020. Frances O’Grady, the TUC’s general secretary, said the growing gap between pay at the top and that paid to workers was fueling the cost of living crisis. “Workers deserve a fair share of the wealth they create. But right now, CEO pay is skyrocketing while workers are experiencing the biggest drop in real wages in 20 years, he said. “These unbalanced pay policies have seen the gap widen between workers and bosses this year, adding to the cost of living crisis. O’Grady called on the government to introduce tough rules to “reduce executive pay”. “This should include worker representatives on the committees that set top pay and elected positions for workers on company boards,” he said. “This approach is already common in many countries and works very well. The government should give UK workers that chance too.” The figures also show that the annual bonuses of FTSE 100 CEOs jumped to £1.4m compared to £828,000 in 2020. Nine out of 10 bosses received a bonus. In total, FTSE 100 companies spent more than £720m on remuneration awarded to 224 top executives. The figures are based on remuneration disclosures made in annual reports, for the companies’ financial years ending in 2021, the most recent available. Luke Hildyard, director of the High Pay Centre, said: “Very high executive pay is a big part of the cost of living problem. If large employers pay millions more to already very wealthy executives, it makes it harder to fund wage increases for low- and middle-income workers. “If incomes in the UK were shared more evenly, this would significantly raise the living standards of the people most affected by the current economic crisis, while those at the top would probably not notice much of a difference in their lifestyles.” Subscribe to the Business Today daily email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter @BusinessDesk The highest-paid FTSE 100 chief executive, according to the survey, was Sebastien De Montessus of Endeavor, which operates gold mines in Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Senegal. Paid £16.9m. The second highest paid boss was AstraZeneca’s Pascal Soriot, who was paid £13.9m. The TUC and the High Pay Center are calling for reforms to regulations affecting company pay-setting processes, including:
Requirements for companies to provide more detailed pay disclosure for top, non-executive, and low-wage earners, including indirectly employed workers, allowing for more informed pay negotiations at individual companies and a clearer discussion of inequality of remuneration in general.
