FTSE 100 bosses make more money at lunchtime today than the average worker does in a year | Executive remuneration and bonuses

CEOs of FTSE 100 companies will have earned more money in 2025 by Monday lunchtime than their average worker in an entire year, according to the latest measure of inequality between bosses and their employees.

The median salary for FTSE 100 executives is £4.22 million, 113 times the median salary for a full-time worker of £37,430, according to the High Pay Centre, a campaign group. This means UK bosses will exceed their employees’ annual pay within 29 hours – or around 11.30am on Monday, if they started work straight after the New Year holidays.

Bosses will reach this milestone slightly more quickly this year than last year, when it was reached at 1 p.m. on the third working day of the year.

Workers’ wages grew slightly faster during the year, according to figures disclosed by companies. Bosses’ wages increased by 2.5%, compared to 7% for workers. However, boss salaries are at record levels.

The annual study aims to highlight the huge pay disparity between bosses and their employees, a gap that has widened in recent decades, sparking calls for action from unions and some officials policies.

Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, a trade union group, said: “Every worker plays a role in producing Britain’s wealth. But while millions of low-wage workers are still feeling the effects of the cost-of-living crisis, those at the top are suffering more than their fair share.”

AstraZeneca’s Pascal Soriot has been the highest-paid CEO in the FTSE 100 for several years. He was given a £18.7m package for 2024 despite shareholder objections. Erik Engstrom, boss of data company RelX, and Tufan Erginbilgiç, director of jet engine maker Rolls-Royce, both received £13.6 million.

The median wage equates to an hourly wage of £1,298.46, or almost £22 per minute. The High Pay Center assumed that FTSE executives worked around 62.5 hours per week.

Some observers have argued that corporate executives earn huge rewards and that companies must pay as much to recruit top talent. In 2023, the chairman of the London Stock Exchange argued that British companies would have to pay their bosses more to compete with their American rivals.

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Unions argue that wage increases should benefit workers. The TUC said it hoped the Labor government’s Work Rights Bill would improve wage bargaining rights and job security, while pushing more people to join a union. However, business groups have lobbied intensely against the bill, which they say would force them to raise prices.

Luke Hildyard, director of the High Pay Centre, said financial disparities fuel political divisions and putting workers on boards would help narrow the gap between workers and bosses.

“The sense that the economy is working to enrich a small elite at the expense of society as a whole is an underestimated cause of populist anger and support for extremist policies,” he said. “Policymakers who fail to address these inequalities are creating big problems for the future. »