British
senior executives are the highest paid in Europe, a new survey by business
magazine Management Today reveals.
The
research finds that the chief executives in the UK now earn an average basic
salary of £509,000 per year, a rise of 29 percent since 1999.
This
represents a third more than their French counterparts receive and £200,000
more than executives in Sweden.
HR
directors are also well rewarded in the UK, earning over £55,000, substantially
more than Germans working in the same role.
Only
US executives receive higher salaries, leading to claims by trade union leaders
that pay increases are out of hand.
TUC
general secretary John Monks, said, “With CEOs earning almost a third more than
they were two years ago, fat-cat pay shows little sign of letting up.
“We
want the government to ensure remuneration committees have employee
representation and to compel companies to justify pay packages to their AGMs,
including allowing for a separate vote on pay.”
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Union
anger was further heightened by reports that British manufacturing workers were
the lowest paid in the developed world, earning an average salary of £20,475
compared to £26,000 in Germany and £36,000 in Japan.
By
Robert De La Poer
