Given rising layoffs and a stubbornly high inflation rate, you’d think companies would be pinching pennies on worker salaries these days.
Yet the opposite is happening, according to a new study.
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In general, annual compensation (i.e., salary, bonuses, and benefits) rose higher in 2022 than in 2021 at 278 S&P 500 Index companies according to data collected by MyLogIQ and analyzed by The Wall Street Journal. The review of each company’s security filings tracked 453 S&P mainstay U.S. companies.
Additionally, approximately 100 companies reported hiking salaries by 10% or more last year, the report noted.
The highest median annual salary in 2022 was $414,500 at Vici Properties, a New York City-based real estate investment trust. Technology companies also rated highly on median pay. Meta Platforms (META), which owns Facebook, reportedly paid employees a median salary of about $300,000. Alphabet (GOOG), which owns search engine giant Google, clocked in slightly lower at a $280,000 median salary.
In general, worker pay was more robust in industries like technology, media and entertainment, and energy. Correspondingly, the consumer staples and retail sectors averaged the lowest annual salaries, according to the review.
Here are the top ten highest-paying U.S. companies, as measured by median annual income, for 2022.
Amazon (AMZN) ranked 43rd on the median salary list, at $34,195 for 2022, in part because of the huge number of warehouse workers they employ. Not surprisingly, Amazon ranked second on the list of largest companies in the U.S., with revenues of $514 billion in 2022, according to Fortune Magazine.
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At the bottom of the list are largely big-brand retail companies, including Yum Brands ($10,398); Ross Stores ($9,968); and Aptiv ($8,139). Those bottom-level median annual incomes usually go to minimum-wage workers, The Journal reported.
There are some distinctions to be made at the lower end of the company wage scale.
For example, Aptiv, an auto parts supply company that has multiple plants in Mexico where wages are lower, noted “competitive wages vary greatly from standard U.S. hourly rates” in its security filings.
Retail titan Walmart (WMT) also landed at the lower end of the median salary list, at $27,000. Yet the company did boost salaries by 7% in 2022 and also raised its starting wage pay to $14 per hour from $12 per hour.
Meanwhile, CEO salaries continue to skyrocket at top U.S. companies.
The median total annual compensation at the top 100 companies tracked by corporate financial data provider Equilar is $22.3 million in 2022. That’s a 7.7% rise in total compensation, Equilar reported.
