In a recently published research paper, Oxfam said that major US companies contribute to global inequality.
The charity said: “The largest US corporations have driven the inequality crisis, actively concentrating power and money in the hands of wealthy CEOs and shareholders, while limiting the power of workers, influencing our politics, avoiding taxes and accelerating climate change.”
Oxfam corporate research
Oxfam’s research paper analyzes two hundred of the major public companies in the United States across seventy-eight different indicators. The research shows that the companies evaluated are:
Extract more money for already wealthy shareholders
- Workers stiffened amidst company profits
- Reinforcing gender and racial inequality in the workplace
- Worsening inequality through tax avoidance
- Deepening the political divide
- Putting profits back on the planet
The charity found that CEO pay is 1,500/1 higher than the average worker’s pay, and only ten out of two hundred companies (5% of companies examined by Oxfam) made announcements about paying a living wage .
Companies like Walgreens and McDonalds have seen wages fall to pre-2022 levels, with the document showing that retail and food and beverage companies have the lowest average salaries (under $20,000).
Since 2018, CEO pay has more than tripled, according to the report, with major tech companies such as “Alphabet, Amazon, Intel, Oracle, Blackstone and KKR” paying their top executives an average salary of more than $100 million .
Will Oxfam’s document produce a change?
The document calls for changes in corporate policies and practices and suggests alternatives to the way major companies operate. Oxfam hopes to promote alternative ways of working that improve the lives and pockets of workers by focusing on healthier emissions targets and a better average living wage.
“Many of America’s largest corporations are exacerbating economic and social inequality through their current practices, and few are acting to improve long-term outcomes for their stakeholders, focusing instead on short-term rewards for shareholders,” writes Oxfam in the “Way Forward” of the document.
It remains to be seen whether America’s top corporate governance figures will take the report’s views into consideration, but Oxfam has made waves in the financial world with this stark look at what they say needs to change for a better future for emissions and fair distribution of salaries to employees.
Image: Oxfam
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