“Stratospheric” remuneration and “indecent” gaps: in a study published Tuesday April 30, Oxfam claims that CAC 40 bosses earned on average 130 times more than the average salary in their companies in 2022.
“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, specifies the association. These gaps are 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%.
Teleperformance and Carrefour targeted
Some companies “deepen inequalities more” than others, notes Oxfam. Teleperformance has “by far” the largest pay gap, the organization says, with its president and chief executive officer (CEO), Daniel Julien, having earned 1,453 times more than his company's average salary in 2022, with his 19 .7 million euros.
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%. Just after comes Carrefour, whose CEO earned 426 times more, a gap which can be explained “by a very low average salary”, specifies Oxfam.
Contacted directly, Teleperformance affirms that the gap between manager and employees is “purely theoretical and not real”. The company explains that its CEO's compensation included "performance shares", which means that the "retained value" is "not that which the beneficiaries will receive", depending on the objectives achieved and the possible “decline in stock price”. Carrefour also claims 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 " purchasing power gaps” between countries.
