Fat cat Wednesday

Eight days into the New Year and Britain’s top bosses had already made more money in 2014 than the average UK worker will earn in the entire year, according to calculations by the High Pay Centre think tank.

The calculations show that earnings for company executives returning to work on Monday 6 January will pass the UK average salary of £26,500 by mid-morning of the 8 January or “fat cat Wednesday” as the think tank called it.

FTSE 100 chief executives are paid an average £4.3 million, equivalent to hourly pay of well over £1,000. Executive pay has increased by 74% over the past decade, while wages for ordinary workers have remained flat.

High Pay Centre director Deborah Hargreaves said: “‘Fat cat Wednesday’ highlights how insensitive big company executives have become. When top bosses take home more in two and a half days than the average worker earns in a year, there is clearly something wrong."

http://highpaycentre.org