Cognizant’s CEO-to-employee pay widens
Shilpa Phadnis | TNN | May 2, 2019, 09:56 ISTHighlights
- The Nasdaq-listed company’s median employee compensation was $34,183 in 2018, while the CEO compensation was $14,094,531
- The chief executive during these years was Francisco D’Souza
(File photo)BENGALURU: The ratio of Cognizant’s CEO pay to the company’s worldwide median employee pay has widened to 412:1 in 2018, from 390:1 in the year before.
The Nasdaq-listed company’s median employee compensation was $34,183 in 2018, while the CEO compensation was $14,094,531. The CEO during these years was Francisco D’Souza. D’Souza handed over the role to Brian Humphries, former CEO of Vodafone Business and a member of Vodafone Group’s Executive Committee, effective April 1.
The company said the amount of its CEO’s annual total compensation is largely influenced by prevailing compensation practices in the United States and the competitive market for senior executive talent.
The difference is much lower – at 152:1 – when compared to Cognizant’s US median employee pay. Cognizant had 2.8 lakh employees as of December and 50,000 are based in North America and around 18,300 in Europe and 2.1 lakh around the world including 1.9 lakh in India.
The Economic Policy Institute estimated that in 2016, CEOs in America’s largest firms made an average of $15.6 million in compensation, or 271 times the annual average pay of the typical worker. “While the 2016 CEO-to-worker compensation ratio of 271-to-1 is down from 299-to-1 in 2014 and 286-to-1 in 2015, it is still light years beyond the 20-to-1 ratio in 1965 and the 59-to-1 ratio in 1989,” the report that appeared in 2017 said.
The Nasdaq-listed company’s median employee compensation was $34,183 in 2018, while the CEO compensation was $14,094,531. The CEO during these years was Francisco D’Souza. D’Souza handed over the role to Brian Humphries, former CEO of Vodafone Business and a member of Vodafone Group’s Executive Committee, effective April 1.
The company said the amount of its CEO’s annual total compensation is largely influenced by prevailing compensation practices in the United States and the competitive market for senior executive talent.
The difference is much lower – at 152:1 – when compared to Cognizant’s US median employee pay. Cognizant had 2.8 lakh employees as of December and 50,000 are based in North America and around 18,300 in Europe and 2.1 lakh around the world including 1.9 lakh in India.
The Economic Policy Institute estimated that in 2016, CEOs in America’s largest firms made an average of $15.6 million in compensation, or 271 times the annual average pay of the typical worker. “While the 2016 CEO-to-worker compensation ratio of 271-to-1 is down from 299-to-1 in 2014 and 286-to-1 in 2015, it is still light years beyond the 20-to-1 ratio in 1965 and the 59-to-1 ratio in 1989,” the report that appeared in 2017 said.
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