The CEOs of some of the largest employers with the lowest-paid workers in the US are more “focused on their own personal short-term windfall” – spending significantly more money on stock buybacks than capital investments and contributions to employee retirement plans, according to a new report released by the Institute for Policy Studies.
Between 2019 to 2023, the 100 largest low-wage employers in the US, the 100 corporations in the S&P 500 with the lowest median worker pay, spent $522bn on stock buybacks. Lowe’s and Home Depot spent the most on stock buybacks, with Lowe’s spending $42.6bn during this period and Home Depot spending $37.2bn.
The report cites that Lowe’s could have used those funds to give every one of its 285,000 employees an annual $29,865 bonus for five years, and Home Depot could have used those funds to give five annual $16,071 bonuses to each of the retailer’s 463,100 employees.
I mean, file this under “duh!” but I also recognize that having hard numbers to demonstrate what we already know is a necessary first step to addressing it.
Alternately: CEOs with interest in short term profits tend to exploit underpaid workers.
No shit! Eat the rich
In other news, water is wet.
Water isn’t wet though
Because when you already make 10,000x more than the lowest paid workers, you really need that extra income.
I mean honestly, 175 MILLION is not enough, if I don’t have at least 15 BILLION am I even a real CEO
And any talk of raising wages is unconstitutional, and communist.
…The Guardian has noticed.
In other news, water is wet. Glad we have data to back this up but is anyone really surprised?
Institute for Policy Studies - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)
Information for Institute for Policy Studies:
MBFC: Left - Credibility: Medium - Factual Reporting: Mostly Factual - United States of America
Wikipedia about this sourceThe Guardian - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)
Information for The Guardian:
MBFC: Left-Center - Credibility: Medium - Factual Reporting: Mixed - United Kingdom
Wikipedia about this source