Chief executives at major corporations captured compensation gains nearly 20 times larger than average workers in 2025, according to new analysis from the International Trade Union Confederation and Oxfam.
Global real worker pay declined 12 percent between 2019 and 2025 while real CEO compensation surged 54 percent over the same period. Last year alone, CEO pay jumped 11 percent in real terms as median worker wages grew just 0.5 percent.
The disparity reached extreme levels at top firms. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan earned over $205 million in total compensation. At least three other major corporate leaders each received packages exceeding $100 million. Meanwhile, billionaires collected $2,500 per second in dividend income during 2025.
The ITUC and Oxfam, which conducted the analysis, attribute the widening gap to deliberate policy choices rather than market forces. They point to decades of tax cuts for the wealthy, weakened labor protections, and corporate governance structures that prioritize executive compensation. The organizations argue these policies actively transferred wealth upward while suppressing worker bargaining power and wage growth.
Both groups are demanding immediate policy intervention. They call for higher tax rates on top earners, closing tax loopholes for corporations, and binding legal limits on CEO pay ratios relative to worker earnings. The ITUC and Oxfam argue such measures represent basic fairness rather than radical redistribution, noting that current compensation structures bear no relationship to company productivity or performance.
The 2025 data intensifies ongoing debates over inequality in advanced economies. Labor unions and progressive policymakers cite these figures when advocating wage increases and stronger worker protections. Business groups typically counter that executive compensation reflects competitive global markets for talent and that CEO performance directly impacts shareholder returns.
The analysis comes as workers globally face persistent purchasing power declines