MOST senior company managers enjoyed a 6 per cent pay rise last year, with chief executives seeing the biggest pay increases, according to research by the Irish Management Institute. The level of pay increases was well ahead of the 2 per cent inflation rate.
The IMI's executive salaries survey covers 166 Irish companies in the Republic. According to the results, chief executives in companies recording turnover of between £20 million and £60 million on average saw their salaries increase from £70,500 at the end of April, 1995, to £84,700 in the same month last year.
Those in bigger companies enjoyed larger pay rises, with those in firms with turnover of between £60 million and £150 million moving, from around £83,000 in 1995 to £126,000 last year.
Chief executives in the manufacturing sector received the lowest salaries being paid on average around last year. Those in the retail and wholesale sector and in semi State companies fared somewhat better, with average remuneration of £66,000 and £77,300 respectively.
Chief executives in the banking sector earned the highest salaries, according to the survey, receiving on average £128,100 in 1996.
All managers received average pay increases well above the annual rate of inflation last year, according to the survey, and well above the general Programme for Competitiveness and Work terms paid to senior finance management were he next highest earners. Categorised according to the number of employees within their companies, the survey shows that those in small firms (with up to 50 employees) earned around £30,000 last year. The head of finance in a firm with between 100 and 500 employees typically was paid between £51,000 and while those in companies with more than 1,000 employees reported salaries of around £71,500.
The average salaries earned by senior marketing managers also widely varied according to the size of the company.
In the middle management layer, the survey shows that salaries for those working in the finance area rose from £26,000 to £39,600, depending on the size of the company.
