FTSE 100 | Firms paying CEOs millions choosing to furlough staff

FTSE 100 firms that have furloughed staff under the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) paid their chief execs an average of £3.6million per year before the pandemic hit, a new analysis has claimed.

The research, from thinktank The High Pay Centre, claimed that, as of April 22, 2020, the 18 companies who announced that they would use the CJRS scheme, spent a combined £321million on chief executive pay over the last five years – The Guardian reported.

Under the scheme, the Government has committed to paying 80% of furloughed staff wages, which could amount to £2,500 per month. According to Gov.uk, employers can choose to top up the wages of furloughed employees to make it to 100% but this is not compulsory.

In the report, titled How Are UK-Listed Companies Responding to the Economic Shutdown, the High Pay Centre said: “In these circumstances, it is highly questionable whether companies in receipt of public money should continue to disproportionately channel private gains to a small number of often very rich people, in the form of very high chief executive pay and dividend payments.