Unilever has admitted it is struggling to recruit senior American executives because its pay structure, constrained by UK corporate governance rules, cannot compete with what US candidates already earn. The consumer goods giant, whose brands include Dove, Hellmann's and Domestos, disclosed in its annual report that it had encountered 'live examples of US candidates whose current pay packages are unaffordable without creating significant relativity or pay compression issues.'
The admission comes as the company simultaneously proposes an overhaul of executive pay that could see chief executive Fernando Fernández earn as much as €23.8 million (approximately £20.5 million / $27.3 million) — a figure that highlights the growing disparity between what Unilever is willing to pay at the very top and what it says it cannot offer to the American talent it needs below it.
