Amazon and McDonald’s have largest wage gaps between CEOs and employees

Published Updated 1 Min Read

As workers struggle to meet their day-to-day expenses and fight tooth and nail for a cost-of-living raise, CEOs continue to enjoy ballooning salaries that far outpace their employees’ salary bumps. 

Income inequality has been exponentially on the rise since the second half of the 20th century. The U.S middle class, which once accounted for the majority of Americans, has been shrinking, while the salaries of top CEOs have increased by over 1,400% since the 1970s; in comparison, the average worker salary grew by just 18.1% in the same period, according to the Economic Policy Institute. 

Of the 100 companies surveyed, Amazon had the largest pay gap between CEO and employees. In 2021, Amazon’s CEO, Andrew Jassy, had an annual salary of $212,701,169, while the average employee’s pay was $32,855 per year. To further contextualize: it would take 6,474 years for the average Amazon employee to make Jassy’s salary, while it would take him less than two hours to earn the average Amazon worker’s.

In 2022, however, Amazon reported that Jassey’s compensation dropped to $1,298,723, as reported under SEC rules.

Isabella Aldrete
Reporter

Isabella Aldrete is a summer reporter at Employee Benefit News. She is currently a senior at Barnard College and a former deputy editor at the Columbia Daily Spectator.


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