How does your salary compare to that of the new RBS (LSE:RBS) chief executive Ross McEwan?
RBS have announced their new chief executive will be New Zealander, Ross McEwan. McEwan will take up his new role and his hefty salary, come October. Currently head of RBS’s UK retail arm, he has only been working for the bank for a year! The 56 year old’s experience in the sector has come from his time working for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
The average UK salary is currently around 2-3% of McEwan’s; a little over £31,000 for men, and just over £24,000 for women. Income, however, is correlated to age and experience. A young professional, with only a years experience, can expect to receive around £20,000 a year. This grows to £30,000 with 5-9 years experience, and with 20 years or more of experience you can expect to receive around the £40,000 mark.
It’s not all about how many numbers there are on your paycheck though. Different jobs can offer all sorts of different perks.
From paternity leave for dads at Timberland (NYSE:TBL), to pyjama parties in the office at Zappos (website for clothes & shoes). Nike (NYSE:NKE) even offers to help employees with their kid’s tuition fees. Don’t think that it is all doom and gloom if you’re not employed in retail though. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) offers free meals, and even haircuts!
For some people, money is the only important factor. It does not matter what extras a company offers, there is just no competition between money or a lifetime membership at a rubbish gym for 15 minutes every Monday morning.
Bankers are famous for their ridiculous yearly bonuses, and can be a huge attraction to the industry for some. You might be wondering how big a bonus you would get if you were head of RBS, on top of McEwan’s huge £1m salary? Well believe it or not, you would get £0, for the next 3 years at least. I have always been told, “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is” and that is exactly the case here. Do not feel too sorry for McEwan, living on £1m a year will be made a little easier by not only a “cash sum each year equivalent to 35% of his salary” which is suppose to be instead of a pension says the BBC, he will also be eligible to receive what RBS calls a “long-term incentive award next year”.
I hope for everyone’s sake it is not too much, RBS’s shares have gone down a little over £900m this morning.