JUST COULDN'T RESIST POSTING THIS .......... 
h34r: h34r: :angry:
Report finds link between top pay and lay-offs
WASHINGTON (AFX-GEM) - The typical chief executive of a major US company earned 3.7 million dollars last year, with the largest paychecks going to those whose firms had the most workers laid off, under-funded pensions and tax breaks, a report said Tuesday.
Chief executive officers at the 50 corporations with the largest announced layoffs in 2001 saw their pay rise 44 percent in 2002 - a year when overall CEO salaries rose six percent, said the report by research and advocacy groups Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy.
"All told, the top 50 job-cutting CEOs pulled down more than 570 million dollars in 2002, the year after they collectively slashed over 465,000 jobs," it said.
At the 30 companies with the greatest shortfall in their employees' pension funds, chief executives made 59 percent more than the average CEO, added the report released annually for the past 10 years and based on figures compiled by Business Week magazine.
"Meanwhile, many companies are protecting executives with guaranteed golden retirement packages," it said. At the 25 major companies with the most subsidiaries in offshore tax havens, chief executives garnered an average of 26.5 million dollars in pay in 2000-02, compared to the average of 14.2 million dollars for all CEOs at the nation's 365 top companies during the same three-year period.
Overall, average chief executive earnings rose 279 percent between 1990 and 2002, far outstripping the Standard & Poors 500 stock index, which rose 166 percent during that time, and corporate profits, which increased by 93 percent.
By contrast, the report said, workers' pay rose 46 percent, beating inflation by eight percent.
The gap between CEO and worker pay, at 281-to-1 in 2002, was nearly seven times greater than the 1982 ratio of 42-to-1, though it had fallen from a peak in 2000 of 531-to-1, the report said.
It recommended that firms list stock options - granted to top executives and sometimes workers - as expenses on their balance sheets, limit executive severance and improve pension accounting.
And it urged the government to revoke numerous tax incentives, close tax loopholes and require companies to win shareholder approval before granting unusually generous executive severance and retirement packages.
The recommendations had gained popularity with investors, the report said citing a record wave of shareholder proposals put forward at corporate annual general meetings over the past year. Some proposals won majorities, something virtually unheard of in previous years, it added.
h34r: h34r: :angry: Report finds link between top pay and lay-offs
WASHINGTON (AFX-GEM) - The typical chief executive of a major US company earned 3.7 million dollars last year, with the largest paychecks going to those whose firms had the most workers laid off, under-funded pensions and tax breaks, a report said Tuesday.
Chief executive officers at the 50 corporations with the largest announced layoffs in 2001 saw their pay rise 44 percent in 2002 - a year when overall CEO salaries rose six percent, said the report by research and advocacy groups Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy.
"All told, the top 50 job-cutting CEOs pulled down more than 570 million dollars in 2002, the year after they collectively slashed over 465,000 jobs," it said.
At the 30 companies with the greatest shortfall in their employees' pension funds, chief executives made 59 percent more than the average CEO, added the report released annually for the past 10 years and based on figures compiled by Business Week magazine.
"Meanwhile, many companies are protecting executives with guaranteed golden retirement packages," it said. At the 25 major companies with the most subsidiaries in offshore tax havens, chief executives garnered an average of 26.5 million dollars in pay in 2000-02, compared to the average of 14.2 million dollars for all CEOs at the nation's 365 top companies during the same three-year period.
Overall, average chief executive earnings rose 279 percent between 1990 and 2002, far outstripping the Standard & Poors 500 stock index, which rose 166 percent during that time, and corporate profits, which increased by 93 percent.
By contrast, the report said, workers' pay rose 46 percent, beating inflation by eight percent.
The gap between CEO and worker pay, at 281-to-1 in 2002, was nearly seven times greater than the 1982 ratio of 42-to-1, though it had fallen from a peak in 2000 of 531-to-1, the report said.
It recommended that firms list stock options - granted to top executives and sometimes workers - as expenses on their balance sheets, limit executive severance and improve pension accounting.
And it urged the government to revoke numerous tax incentives, close tax loopholes and require companies to win shareholder approval before granting unusually generous executive severance and retirement packages.
The recommendations had gained popularity with investors, the report said citing a record wave of shareholder proposals put forward at corporate annual general meetings over the past year. Some proposals won majorities, something virtually unheard of in previous years, it added.
