Tag: Human Capital

Median Pay Shows How Companies Diverged in Their Covid-19 Response

Employees of Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST 0.45%) and Home Depot Inc. (HD -0.20%) saw demand for their services swell last year as homebound Americans stocked up on food and remodeled their homes. But Costco’s median worker made 16% less in 2020 than in the previous year while Home Depot’s made 21% more.

The divergence doesn’t mean one chain paid better than the other. It reflects how the pandemic and companies’ varied responses to it fundamentally altered the makeup of their workforces, fueling sometimes counterintuitive swings in median employee pay. (See what the median worker was paid at S&P 500 companies.)

Home Depot instituted a range of temporary pay increases to reward existing workers, lifting its pay structure. So did Costco, but that move was more than offset by a flood of new hires brought in to meet demand, tilting the balance of its workforce toward lower earners.

Salaries Stayed Mostly Level During Pandemic: Study

The Covid-19 crisis wreaked havoc on the global economy, disrupted supply chains and cost millions of people their jobs. But for those who remained employed throughout the pandemic, their salaries remained largely unaffected by the Great Disrupter of 2020.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the median pay at more than 30% of companies listed on the S&P 500 fluctuated by 5% or less. Meanwhile, the median pay increased by more than 5% at 184 companies and fell by more than 5% at 125 others.

The Journal analyzed pay at 492 companies using regulatory disclosures and data provided by public-company intelligence provider MyLogIQ and found that about 140 companies said their median worker earned $100,000 in 2020, while nearly 50 reported their median worker earned below $30,000. Among the companies whose median worker made more than $100,000 were Netflix and CSX Corp. The companies paying their median worker less than $30,000 were Starbucks and Amazon. The paper noted that the numbers at all four companies were similar to those reported in 2019.

From Amazon to Starbucks, What Companies Paid Workers in the Pandemic

While the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted millions of jobs and most businesses, many workers kept their jobs and their salaries — and some saw pay rise. Median pay changed by 5% or less either way at about a third of S&P 500 companies. It rose by more than 5% at 184 companies, and fell by more than 5% at… Continue reading From Amazon to Starbucks, What Companies Paid Workers in the Pandemic

From Amazon to Starbucks, What Companies Paid Workers in the Pandemic

While the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted millions of jobs and most businesses, many workers kept their jobs and their salaries—and some saw pay rise.

Median pay changed by 5% or less either way at about a third of S&P 500 companies. It rose by more than 5% at 184 companies, and fell by more than 5% at 125.

Those are among the revelations from a Wall Street Journal analysis of annual disclosures by 492 companies using data provided by MyLogIQ. To see the median pay at S&P 500 companies, search or sort the table toward the bottom of this article.

Nearly 140 companies in the S&P 500—including Netflix Inc. and railroad CSX Corp. —said their median worker was paid at least $100,000 last year. Four dozen, including Starbucks Corp. and Amazon.com Inc., said their median worker made less than $30,000 last year. The wages from those four companies were little changed from 2019.

Here’s How Much S&P 500 Companies Paid Workers During the Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic undoubtedly caused upheaval for millions of workers, with many losing their jobs, while others have seen their work seriously disrupted. Many also, however, saw their roles unscathed by the pandemic, while some even saw pay rises, with a new analysis from The Wall Street Journal highlighting the differences in median pay among S&P 500 companies – the… Continue reading Here’s How Much S&P 500 Companies Paid Workers During the Pandemic

Investors Probe Employee Engagement Data

As boards delve deeper into human capital oversight, employee engagement data is becoming more pertinent to directors and other senior leaders, sources say. Frequent surveys on specific engagement problem areas have replaced long, drawn-out annual employee surveys, and human resources leaders are reporting the findings up to the board as they monitor issues such as corporate culture and employee mental health.

“Employee engagement is front and center for companies right now,” says Rebecca Ray, executive vice president of human capital at The Conference Board. “I think a lot of senior leaders are rightfully concerned about how to preserve the best parts of their culture. As they look at whatever life-changing event might be now thrown at you, there may need to be conversations about what is the best part of our culture, and one of the ways you can gauge that is by having a lot of conversations at the grass root [employee] level.”

Indeed, there were 200 mentions of employee engagement in SEC filings from S&P 500 companies between April 30, 2020, and April 30, 2021, according to data provided to Agenda from public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ.

Scant Diversity Data in Human Capital Disclosures

Mentions of diversity are featuring prominently in companies’ human capital disclosures this proxy season; however, most companies are staying mum on the numbers. An analysis of 10-Ks filed by big companies by mid-April shows that only about a third disclosed any workplace demographic data on race and ethnicity. Fewer still broke the data out into specific demographic groups.

The new human capital management disclosure requirement was introduced by the Securities and Exchange Commission for the 2021 proxy season and requires companies to disclose material factors related to the management of the workforce. However, the SEC provided little guidance on what exactly companies should disclose, leaving it up to them to determine what would be material to investors.

Thus, the type of information disclosed so far varies widely. Some commonly included fields were global head count, regional representation of employees, employment contract type, collective bargaining agreements, staff turnover, components of employee compensation and wellness initiatives, among others.

…But only 35% of the companies disclosed data on racial and ethnic demographics according to an analysis of data from public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ.