The High Pay Centre has just published its latest report on the remuneration of FTSE-100 CEOs. As usual, the report shows median pay which, by most people’s standards, is pretty colossal.
At £3.4m, this figure is over 100 times that of the median UK worker and has increased since the pandemic. Given the cost-of-living crisis, this is seen by many as unacceptable and the HPC press release has a wishlist of recommendations for intervention by the Government.
The HPC’s data – particularly the more detailed material which is not headlined in press reports – are always of interest. But do they justify yet more state intrusion into privately owned businesses?
The High Pay Centre’s title may confuse. Unlike the Low Pay Commission, which its name seems to echo, it is not a government body with a clear and broadly objective remit. Rather it is a left-wing pressure group closely linked to the TUC.
“The HPC’s press release points to a rise in both median CEO pay and the ratio to median worker earnings since the pandemic”
Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it inevitably affects the presentation of its findings. For instance, the HPC’s press release points to a rise in both median CEO pay and the ratio to median worker earnings since the pandemic. This is unsurprising as companies resumed bonus payments which could not be triggered by depressed results during lockdown.
But both median pay and the pay ratio are considerably below the levels of five years ago. This is partly the result of shareholder activism since FTSE-100 companies were forced by Theresa May to reveal a clutch of new statistical information.
