Now is the time to show if pandemic notions of solidarity and alignment were genuine

Managing the polycrisis era for executive pay


The Covid-19 pandemic has set off an epidemic of talk about restraint in executive pay. And rightly so. As the crisis engulfed companies, their workers and the country, there was much discussion about “solidarity”, “social licence” and “sharing the pain”. 
As Richard Buxton, fund manager at Jupiter, said at the time: “A sensible board would be asking management . . . to make some sacrificial gestures in terms of pay.” And, to some extent, they did. Around half of FTSE 100 bosses had their salaries frozen, while a chunk of blue-chip companies cut, suspended or cancelled bonus payouts.
What now? The UK has moved swiftly from Covid crisis to energy crisis to cost of living crisis to fiscal crisis. Overlapping and interrelated shocks, both economic and otherwise, are likely to make the convoluted process of determining executive pay for corporate leaders even more tortured than usual.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Helen Thomas