What does your boss earn?

[Hobbit]

Interesting piece on the Beeb's website today about what CEO's around the world earn compared to workers in their respective countries. The top CEO's in the UK earn, (drum-roll), £80k a day. By lunch time they will have well and truly out-earned what their average employees earn in a year. The top CEO in the world earns almost £1m a week!

Market forces and all that rubbish I guess but if you want the best you have to pay the best.

The article also shows an even greater disparity in many emerging countries. People still living in abject poverty while their bosses are rolling in it. Although I accept that that is the way of the world, what I find very disappointing is the increasing ratio between what executives earn compared to the people o the shop floor. The bosses are quite happy to award themselves inflation busting pay rises, and then stand up in front of their respective teams and ask them to work harder. Surely it should be lead by example?

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20190108-how-long-it-takes-a-ceo-to-earn-more-than-you-do-in-a-year

 

[Hacker Khan]

Interesting piece on the Beeb's website today about what CEO's around the world earn compared to workers in their respective countries. The top CEO's in the UK earn, (drum-roll), £80k a day. By lunch time they will have well and truly out-earned what their average employees earn in a year. The top CEO in the world earns almost £1m a week!

Market forces and all that rubbish I guess but if you want the best you have to pay the best.

The article also shows an even greater disparity in many emerging countries. People still living in abject poverty while their bosses are rolling in it. Although I accept that that is the way of the world, what I find very disappointing is the increasing ratio between what executives earn compared to the people o the shop floor. The bosses are quite happy to award themselves inflation busting pay rises, and then stand up in front of their respective teams and ask them to work harder. Surely it should be lead by example?

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20190108-how-long-it-takes-a-ceo-to-earn-more-than-you-do-in-a-year

Agree with the gist but with regards to bosses awarding pay rises to themselves then the board should approve the CEO's pay structure. And there should be a distance between the executive and governance functions. But in reality there may well not be.

And in another way that's capitalism for you, share prices have to increase, profits have to increase, CEO's get paid based on share prices, automation is increasingly replacing the lower paid workers and we're all going to hell in a hand cart. People could always vote for Corbyn if they want to try and clip the wings of excessive capitalism and get a more equal society.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

As a small company, able to make best use is tax/NI allowances, the directors get £12k each, plus divideds, pension contributions, rent and loan repayments.

 

[pendodave]

I think the days of altruistic, good fearing capitalism are well behind us....

 

[bobmac]

Right, let's start with MPs.....

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I'm the boss and I'm beggared if those lazy good for nothings I employ are going to get anywhere near what I get to take home

Bosses will always earn more, rightly so as their decisions affect more people, the stress and pressure is greater. If you are the business owner then you are taking all of the risk, you never escape work in the same way that an employee does. Saying all of that, employees need to be paid a decent wage as otherwise you have a discontented and inefficient workforce and that does you no good either. It is about finding a balance. Quoting FTSE 100 companies is always going to distort figures but the people at the top of those trees sign part of their lives away and tend to have a short shelf life so for all the money that they earn, I would not swap with them.

 

[Deleted member 21258]

I once read an article and wished I had printed it off as the write up was brilliant and interesting about pay.

Its conclusion was something like 'nearer the money normally meant higher pay and deciding on that pay'

 

[SocketRocket]

In our Company everyone had a fair competitive salary. We had a profit sharing bonus for employees that used 20% of profit. This was allocated based on individual commitment and performance. The Board members received a bonus based on increased profit for the year. As the company was quite profitable the bonuses were very good. I can only remember one year during a bad recession where the company broke even and made a modest Christmas bonus to the Employees only.

 

[Imurg]

I don't know...
HiD won't tell me

 

[anotherdouble]

Not a lot

 

[Deleted member 18121]

My immediate line manager - probably 5x UK average. My top boss - probably 27x UK average....but potentially more.

 

[Dibby]

The problem is, it's not a truly free market when it comes to executives pay. It's more akin to a cartel operating in a free market, in that they can perform some manipulations, which then make the market such that prices have to be as they are. Put more simply, the current argument is basically that top execs are paid so much because top execs are paid so much, therefore you need to pay more to get a top exec. It's just a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially as most execs are on boards that set each others pay.

I see on this thread a few comments saying that the boss should earn more, they take more risk, have more pressure etc.. This is a false argument because I doubt many people would say the top man shouldn't get more, however, the issue is whether 200x more is too much.

Not that I have any suggestions for viable alternatives, but to understand capitalism, you just have to play monopoly. Eventually, the distribution of resources becomes more and more unequal until one player owns everything and the rest have nothing. In the real world, it's unlikely to reach the extremity of 1 person owning everything, but the size of the group owning the most will decrease and the amount they own will increase.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

The problem is, it's not a truly free market when it comes to executives pay. It's more akin to a cartel operating in a free market, in that they can perform some manipulations, which then make the market such that prices have to be as they are. Put more simply, the current argument is basically that top execs are paid so much because top execs are paid so much, therefore you need to pay more to get a top exec. It's just a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially as most execs are on boards that set each others pay.

I see on this thread a few comments saying that the boss should earn more, they take more risk, have more pressure etc.. This is a false argument because I doubt many people would say the top man shouldn't get more, however, the issue is whether 200x more is too much.

Not that I have any suggestions for viable alternatives, but to understand capitalism, you just have to play monopoly. Eventually, the distribution of resources becomes more and more unequal until one player owns everything and the rest have nothing. In the real world, it's unlikely to reach the extremity of 1 person owning everything, but the size of the group owning the most will decrease and the amount they own will increase.

Totally agree with your post. The bold bit is the key question. 200 x is too much more but how much more is fair? That is a moral question as much as a business one.

 

[Wolf]

I've no idea but considering who the guy is and what he owns it's going to be considerably more than 500k a week maybe even double that.

 

[IanM]

Whilst I agree that the gap between top and bottom is boggling, most of the stress and aggro the highest earners I know live through isnt worth it!

 

[londonlewis]

Life isn't fair!

 

[SocketRocket]

My immediate line manager - probably 5x UK average. My top boss - probably 27x UK average....but potentially more.

Is He/She a TV presenter or a University Vice Chancellor?

 

[Deleted member 18121]

Is He/She a TV presenter or a University Vice Chancellor?

Private banking.

 

[IanM]

In my Canary Wharf days, (doesnt matter where) when the top traders got their bonus they'd pay for their whole support team and connected colleagues to go on a major night out. Pretty sure one night the bill would have bought a decent house in some towns... mind you, there were several deaths and many burn-outs in those guys when I was there....

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Football is one of the strange businesses where, at the top level, the staff get paid more than the boss.