The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations' annual report released July 18 showed that CEOs at S&P 500 companies made 324 times more than median company workers in 2021, Forbes reported July 18.
AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor union, reported this is the largest CEO-employee pay ratio since the organization began tracking the data in 2018. CEOs made 299 times more than workers in 2020.
The data continues a decades-long trend. "CEO compensation rose 1,322.2 percent from 1978 to 2020 adjusted for inflation, compared to an 18 percent increase in worker compensation," according to the article, citing a 2021 analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.
According to a June 2021 New York Times article featuring a study by Equilar, a corporate data company, the pandemic played a large role in this wage gap. Worker wage benefits did not accelerate during this time due to higher consumer prices, while CEOs received record-breaking compensation, according to the publication.
A survey of the top 200 highest paid CEOs showed a compensation raise of 14.1 percent in 2020, whereas median company workers only received a 1.9 percent increase, according to the New York Times article.