UK chief executives have already earned more money in 2014 than the average employee will in the whole year, according to research by the High Pay Centre.
The independent think-tank’s calculations found that FTSE 100 bosses surpassed the UK average salary of £26,500 by mid-morning on 8 January, which it has dubbed ‘Fatcat Wednesday’.
Its analysis found that chief executives are paid an average of £4.3 million a year, inclusive of salary and bonuses, which works out to £1,100 per hour, calculated on the assumption that they work 12-hour days, three out of four weekends and take only 10 days of holiday a year.
These calculations mean it takes only 24 working hours for chief executives’ remuneration to surpass the UK average annual salary of £26,500.
Deborah Hargreaves (pictured), director of the High Pay Centre, said: “’Fatcat Wednesday’ highlights how insensitive big organisations’ 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 with the way pay is set for both bosses and employees.”