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High Pay Centre: worker-CEO wage gap to grow wider across UK in 2022

Date: May 24, 2022 Omkar Patwardhan Omkar Patwardhan
High Pay Centre: worker-CEO wage gap to grow wider across UK in 2022 
Latest research by think tank, High Pay Centre, has reportedly suggested that the gap between the wages of the company bosses and employees across the UK will widen again this year, after having narrowed during the Covid-19 pandemic.



The thinktank, which focuses on economic inequality, stated that the FTSE 350 CEOs will likely be collecting 63 times the average median pay workers receive at their firms.



In 2021, the ratio between the wages of the bosses and the workers had dropped to 34:1, following widespread cuts in executive pay due to the pandemic. However, the think tank stated that analysis of recent data indicates that the gap would widen once again this year.



Luke Hildyard, Executive Director, High Pay Centre, stated that the new report indicates that firms and their stakeholders showed sensitivity to workers and the need to treat them fairly and lower the vast inequalities in pay during the coronavirus pandemic.



However, as the pandemic situation hopefully alleviates, it would be a shame if this spirit of solidarity would fade away, Hildyard added.



Hildyard also stated that the way the people of UK share existing resources would especially become crucial as the country’s economic outlook grows more dire.



As per the analysis, pay ratios were found to be the widest in financial and media services.



Mubin Haq, CEO, abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, stated that the significant drop in pay ratios during the pandemic implies that change is possible.



Haq added that with increasing inflation, it is more important now than ever for firms do the right thing and distribute fair pay.



According to the High Pay Centre’s research, which abrdn helped with, 43 CEOs of FTSE 350 companies got over 100 times more salary than the salary of an average employee in 2020.



Haq claimed that although the past practice of pay ratios increasing year-on-year is something that should not return to normal post-pandemic, it is more likely to happen as companies show their top pay rebounding.



Haq highlighted that it will be helpful to increase the wages of those on lower incomes bands so they can withstand the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.



Source credit: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/23/pay-gap-in-uk-between-bosses-and-workers-likely-to-widen-in-2022

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Omkar Patwardhan

Omkar Patwardhan started his professional career in the hospitality industry. Having nurtured a deep-sated passion for words however, he found his way into content writing and now pens down articles for numerous websites, including News Origins, spanning the sectors of business, finance, and technology.