PayScale Reveals CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratio, Examines Human Capital Workplace Issues

PayScale, Inc. has announced the findings of its report “CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratios: How many worker salaries does it take to add up to a CEO? ” The report reveals overall median pay for workers at the 100 highest-grossing publicly traded companies in the U.S., plus the ratio of CEO-to-worker pay. The report also provides the percentage of respondents reporting high job satisfaction and job meaning.

“As economic inequality and the inefficiency of capitalism dominate recent news, PayScale’s data highlights the pay gaps between CEOs and typical employees at their company. Except for the few CEOs who take home almost no cash compensation, the average CEO-to-worker pay ratio for the 100 companies examined is 86 to 1,” Katie Bardaro, lead economist at PayScale, said.“

Study highlights include:

• CVS Caremark has the largest CEO-to-worker pay ratio (422:1) and the second smallest typical median salary for workers ($28,700).

• Google and Sears have the smallest ratio (0:1) due to their $1 CEO salaries.

• Google has the highest typical median pay for workers ($115,900), followed by Microsoft ($114,500).

• Kohl’s has the lowest typical median pay for workers ($28,500).

• The highest level of job satisfaction was found in Whirlpool employees (88 percent), with Express Scripts having the lowest (51 percent).

• ConocoPhillips employees are the least stressed (57 percent with low job stress) while Goldman Sachs employees are the most stressed (14 percent with low job stress.)

• 97 percent of Intel employers would recommend their job, while 62 percent of Walgreens employees would recommend theirs.

“The gap in pay is especially striking when you consider that typical workers at more than 80 percent of the companies examined earn wages higher than the national median household income,” Bardaro added.