US CEOs earn 278 times more than their workers: study

A new study suggests that top executives at large US companies are paid on average 278 times more than their company's workers
A new study suggests that top executives at large US companies are paid on average 278 times more than their company's workers

The top executives at large US companies are paid 278 times more than their company's workers and the gap continues to widen, according to a study published Wednesday.

Average CEO compensation at the 350 largest US firms in 2018 was $17.2 million a year, including , which generally account for two-thirds of their pay packages, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute.

The gap between CEO and workers has soared from 58-to-1 in 1989 and 20-to-1 in 1965, according to EPI, a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on issues facing low- and middle-income workers.

From 1978 to 2018, CEO compensation has increased by more than 1,000 percent—with increasingly rich stock awards—while pay has risen just under 12 percent.

"This escalation of CEO compensation, and of executive more generally, has fueled the growth of top 1.0% and top 0.1% incomes, leaving less of the fruits of economic growth for ordinary workers and widening the gap between very high earners and the bottom 90%," the study said.

"The economy would suffer no harm if CEOs were paid less (or taxed more)."

And the study said the pay inflation "does not reflect rising value of skills, but rather CEOs' use of their power to set their own pay. And this growing power at the top has been driving the growth of inequality in our country."

© 2019 AFP

Citation: US CEOs earn 278 times more than their workers: study (2019, August 14) retrieved 29 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2019-08-ceos-workers.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

CEOs get $800,000 pay raise, leaving workers further behind

20 shares

Feedback to editors