It seems as though there is growing evidence that little is being done to curb the outrageous salaries which FTSE-100 chief execs bring in annually. Although there has always been concern as to the amount of money these men take from shareholders and from employees under them, data shows that little is being done to curb this excess.
For example, in the late 1990’s after this problem first came to light with the now famous Cedric the Pig, chief execs were making about 47 times more than the average person working under them, but as of the end of the first decade in this century, chief execs were making 120 times that of the average worker.
Coming now to the present, there is ample evidence to reinforce what Mr. Cameron is saying in regards to excess in corporate pay. In these times of austerity there needs to be some measures taken to curb fat cat salaries that are given at the expense of the average worker and shareholders.
To be fair, the Telegraph noted in a recent article, that there is a huge amount of stress in these multi-national conglomerates. However, the paper also noted that the amount of stress is not equal to such a rise in pay. FTSE-100 corporations account for approximately 1/3 the earnings in the UK with the rest abroad.
As a final note, last year’s take-home pay for three FTSE-100 chief executives were released which has caused this latest stir. Michael Spencer of Icap brokerage brought home £13.4 million whilst Mick Davis of Xstrata brought home £18.4 million. Somewhere in between those two, Reckitt Benckiser took home £17.9 million.
The question being asked by the Telegraph is, how can anyone be worth that amount of pay in these times of austerity? If, as government says, everyone is in this together, how do a few get to operate outside the parameters within which the rest of the country is confined? These questions will be addressed with fervour by government in the coming months.
