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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Michael Sainato

CEO-to-worker pay gap surges to 632 to 1 at US’s lowest-paying large firms, study shows

people hold signs that read 'Starbucks workers united on ULP strike' and 'no contract no coffee'
Starbucks workers picket at a store in Los Angeles, California, on 24 December 2024. Research showed Starbucks had the widest gap between CEO and worker pay that year. Photograph: Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Some of the US’s lowest-paying large firms increased their CEOs’ compensation by an average of almost 35% over five years, according to new research. Their workers’ salaries did not keep up.

As executive remuneration ballooned, the average CEO-to-worker pay gap across the 100 companies in the S&P 500 with lowest median worker pay – dubbed the Low-Wage 100 by the Institute for Policy Studies – widened by 12.9% between 2019 and 2024, from 560 to 1 to 632 to 1.

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