FTSE 100 Bosses Earn 117 Times More Than Their Employees

21 August 2019, 14:37

Pay for FTSE 100 bosses is at a five year low, but they still earn more than 100 times more than their employees.

Bosses at the UK's biggest companies have on average taken a pay cut, with only 43 out of the 100 biggest bosses getting a pay increase last year.

Despite this, FTSE 100 bosses still earn 117 times more money than their employees on average.

The High Pay Centre and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has found that the average pay for FTSE 100 CEOs was £3.46 million in 2018. In 2017, the average was £4 million.

The average UK full time worker earns £29, 574 per year, 117 times less than that of their bosses.

Peter Cheese, chief executive of the CIPD, said, "the gulf between the pay at the top and the bottom ends of companies is slightly smaller this year but it's still unacceptably wide and undermines public trust in business."

"We must question if CEOs are overly focused on financial measures and are being incentivised to keep share prices high rather than focusing on the long-term health of their business."

Bonus payouts remained at similar levels of about 70% of the maximum allowed under each company’s pay criteria.

Furthermore, the number of FTSE 100 companies facing a revolt from shareholders over excessive pay for their chief executives fell by around a half - 7% of companies compared to 13% last year.

However, one third of FTSE 100 companies have cut their pension pay for new executive employees.

Stephen Cahill, a vice-chairman at Deloitte, saids “we have seen many companies come forward as ‘first movers’ in response to new regulatory changes, with 29 companies reducing pensions for new hires."

“Without a doubt, executive pensions have been the hottest topic of 2019 and we expect this to continue, with a growing focus on incumbent executives receiving the highest pension rates.”

If these trends continue, it could mean pay for FTSE 100 bosses dropping yet again.

Stephen Cahill also stated, “in the coming year we expect to see a further shift in reduced pensions and requirements for executives to hold shares post-leaving."

Female chief executives are also still taking home less of the £465.4m total payout to FTSE 100 bosses than their male counterparts.