A screen shows CAC 40 securities, at La Défense, near Paris, March 9, 2020 (AFP/Archives/ERIC PIERMONT)
“Stratospheric” remuneration and “indecent” gaps: CAC 40 bosses earned on average 130 times more than the average salary in their companies in 2022, a gap that has been widening since 2019, reveals an Oxfam study published Tuesday .
“The wealth produced continues to grow” in CAC 40 companies, “yet this redistribution of wealth is inequitable”, laments Oxfam in its report entitled “Cash 40: too many millions for a few men”.
In 2022, CAC 40 managers earned on average 130 times more than their employees, an increase of around 17% since 2019, indicates the association. In 1979, these bosses “earned on average only 40 times more than the minimum wage”, she specifies.
These differences can be explained, according to the NGO, by “excessive and disconnected executive remuneration”: in 2022, these bosses earned on average 6.66 million euros, or 27% more than three years previously. Employees, for their part, saw their salaries increase by only 9%.
Some companies “deepen inequalities” more than others. Teleperformance displays “by far” the largest pay gap, says Oxfam, its CEO Daniel Julien having earned 1,453 times more than the average salary of his company in 2022, with 19.7 million euros.
Just after comes Carrefour, whose CEO earned 426 times more, a gap which can be explained “by a very low average salary”, specifies Oxfam.
– An annual salary in 9 hours –
The remuneration of CAC 40 bosses in 2022 (AFP/Valentina BRESCHI, Aníbal Maíz Cáceres, Bertille LAGORCE)
“Alexandre Bompard earns in just 9 hours the equivalent of the average annual salary of Carrefour employees, even though we are in the middle of an agricultural crisis and we are still suffering the consequences of inflation,” summarizes Léa Guérin, responsible for advocacy on multinational regulation issues.
Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares appeared in 2022 “only” on the third step of the podium of bad performers, his 22 million euros representing 341 times more than the average salary at the car manufacturer. An amount already deemed “shocking and excessive” by French President Emmanuel Macron.
In 2023, the spectacular increase in his remuneration – which this time could reach 36.5 million euros – has again created controversy, although it was validated by the shareholders by 70%.
For Oxfam, it is precisely the “toxic” relationship between shareholders and managers which allows the payment of these “stratospheric” remunerations.
According to the NGO, the fixed part of executive remuneration represented on average 27% in 2022. The variable or share parts – based mainly on financial and short-term criteria defined by the shareholders – represented 69%.
“The government and large companies are not up to a fair and equitable sharing of value with their employees, but also the planet,” says Oxfam, according to which these exorbitant sums are missing from investment in the energy transition .
– Maximum salary –
The association is campaigning for executive remuneration to be conditional on an articulated climate strategy, for a “decent” salary throughout the company and for it to be less linked to financial criteria.
Above all, she calls for the establishment of a maximum salary, which would represent 20 times the median salary of the company. This is approximately the order of magnitude that we found in 2022 with the average salary at Crédit Agricole (23) or Orange (29).
An idea that is gaining ground among left-wing deputies, from socialists to rebels, who are considering proposed laws.
As for the companies targeted, Teleperformance affirms that the gap highlighted by Oxfam between managers and employees is “purely theoretical and not real”.
The company, contacted directly by the NGO, emphasizes that the remuneration of its CEO included “performance actions”, which means that the “retained value” is “not that which the beneficiaries will receive”, depending on the objectives achieved and the possible “drop in the stock price”.
Carrefour also affirms that Oxfam’s calculations do not correspond “to any reality”, since they relate Mr. Bompard’s remuneration to that of 334,000 employees around the world – including a majority in Brazil -, despite “discrepancies purchasing power” between countries.
The average salary in mass distribution is also “significantly lower than other sectors”, indicated the group, because the workforce is “often poorly qualified”.
Contacted by AFP, Stellantis did not wish to react.
© 2024 AFP
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