CEOs in Indiana made 296 times more than Hoosier workers at S&P 500 companies, and 87 times more than workers at Russell 3000 firms, last year, according to the AFL-CIO's Executive Paywatch report.
The union released its annual report which found S&P 500 CEOs in Indiana made an average of $13.83 million last year, while the average Russell 3000 CEO made $4 million.
The average worker in Indiana made $46,689 in 2019.
Nationwide, the average S&P 500 CEO made $14.8 million last year, or 264 times as much as the average worker. S&P 500 CEO pay has increased an average of $3.4 million over the past 10 years while the average workers production and nonsupervisory worker pay rose $1,500 over the same period.
The union said the findings point to rising inequality at a time when unemployment is the highest it's been since the Great Depression.
“With the COVID-19 shutdowns earlier this year, we saw many CEOs take salary cuts as a token of their solidarity with furloughed workers. While these CEO salary cuts made for good headlines, they are mostly window dressing," AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler said."Base salary makes up less than 8% of total compensation for CEOs of S&P 500 companies. Most CEO pay is in equity awards. The real story in executive compensation was that companies ramped up their equity awards to senior executives at the beginning of this year. Meanwhile, millions of working people have been furloughed or laid off due to COVID-19 related shutdowns. This disparity represents a fundamental imbalance in our economy. Working people are being treated as disposable employees. Now these cast-off workers, as a result of COVID-19, are at risk of having their unemployment benefits cut.”
Locally CEO Joseph Hamrock, of Merrillville-based NiSource, the parent company of NIPSCO, made $6.62 million last year, or 60 times as much as the median worker there, according to the study. Michael Rechin, CEO of Muncie-based First Merchants Bank, which has an extensive footprint across Northwest Indiana, earned $1.72 million, or 39 times more than the bank's median employee.
Christopher Murphy, the CEO of South Bend-based 1st Source Bank, which has many branches in Porter and LaPorte counties, took home $1.76 million, or 34 times more than the bank's median employee, the study found.
Craig Dwight, the CEO of Michigan City-based Horizon Bank, received $1.23 million in compensation in 2019, or 31 times more than the bank's median employee.
U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt made $13.3 million in 2019, which was 185 times more than the steelmaker's median employee, the AFL-CIO found.
Ford Motor Co. CEO James Hackett earned $17.35 million last year, or 157 times more than the automaker's median employee, according to the study.
Lear Corp. Raymond Scott took home $13.71 million in pay in 2019, which was 1,349 times more than the auto parts supplier's median worker.
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