LONDON (Reuters) – Pay gaps between employees and executives at 300 publicly traded U.S. companies with the lowest median wages have widened in 2021, according to a report by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) released on Tuesday. .
According to the study, the average gap was 670 to 1 in 2021, compared to 604 to 1 the previous year, while 49 companies had ratios above 1,000 to 1.
Average executive compensation increased by $2.5 million (2.34 million euros) to $10.6 million, while median worker compensation increased by $3,556 to $23,968.
These results will give new arguments to investors who defend more social justice within the framework of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria.
US companies are facing an unprecedented wave of ESG-related shareholder resolutions this year, with the issue of the treatment of workers frequently raised.
“During the pandemic, low-wage workers have demonstrated how essential they are to the functioning of our economy. With profits rising in 2021, companies have had the opportunity to take a big step towards greater pay equity. “, said Sarah Anderson, director of the Global Economy project at IPS.
The study found that in 106 of the companies, the median wage of workers did not keep up with the average inflation rate of 4.7% in the United States during the period. In this group, 67 companies spent a total of $43.7 billion on share buybacks during the period, boosting executive stock compensation.
In response, an increasing number of workers are looking to change jobs, a trend known as “the great resignation”.
A global survey in March by consultancy PwC found that one in five workers were “extremely” or “very likely” to change employers in the next 12 months.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led investors to take a closer look at how companies treat their staff, although, as at Amazon’s recent annual meeting (), many have been reluctant to object. to management on these issues.
(Report Simon Jessop; French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Kate Entringer)