Tight bosses are counting on a looser jobs market 1 Jul 2022 BT, British Airways and Sainsbury’s are tussling with workers over pay. Given the Bank of England thinks tight labour markets should slacken, bosses have scope to hang tough. But if the BoE is wrong, which is possible, they will have lost valuable worker goodwill for nothing.
Rolls-Royce showcases flexible pay’s ups and downs 22 Jun 2022 The $9 bln UK engineer is offering its staff a one-off payment to match soaring inflation, instead of a bigger salary hike. The flexibility works for employers, and lump sums are worth more to lower-paid employees. But workers have to trust bosses to give similar help next year.
Review: War on digital payment fails to hit target 20 May 2022 Brett Scott’s “Cloudmoney” seeks to remind the world of the value of physical cash. It’s true that an overly automated system of money carries risks like the potential for surveillance. But the campaigner underestimates consumer demand for digital transactions.
Being Jamie Dimon just became less fun 17 May 2022 Over two-thirds of JPMorgan investors rejected the CEO’s pay package, the worst rebuke at a big U.S. bank in a decade. That won’t hit Dimon in the wallet, and there’s no sign shareholders want him gone. But his bully pulpit, like his bank, is smaller than it was a year ago.
Capital Calls: GM electrifies executives’ pay 27 Apr 2022 Concise views on global finance: The Detroit automaker’s move to tie boss Mary Barra’s pay to electric vehicles goals is a new spin on pledges to shift away from combustion-engine cars.
Capital Calls: Stellantis CEO’s outsize salary 14 Apr 2022 Concise views on global finance: The carmaker’s shareholders opposed Carlos Tavares’s 59 mln euro pay package, but he’s going to receive it anyway.
Andrew Bailey pay rise clanger has tiny PR upside 7 Feb 2022 The Bank of England chief’s call for wage restraint has gone down badly with workers facing soaring prices. The ensuing controversy, has, however, done more to inform the public about the central bank’s mission to control inflation than many past communications campaigns.
SoftBank No.2 exit shows bad timing all round 28 Jan 2022 Marcelo Claure overhauled both Sprint and WeWork for the $70 bln conglomerate. His departure was at least partly about money, per media reports. Expecting a bumper payout as shares halved looks a poor move. But SoftBank is losing a key player just when steady hands are needed.
Capital Calls: Enel’s payments punt 24 Dec 2021 Concise views on global finance: The 70 bln euro utility is paying up to 361 mln euros for a relatively pricey punt on fellow Italian payments firm Mooney.
Big Wall Street bonus pools may be hard to drain 15 Dec 2021 As revenue has rocketed amid friendly markets, so has banker pay this year at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and peers. Big payouts will help them compete not just with each other but with fintech and crypto firms. The catch is that the talent may start to expect it every year.
Andrea Orcel’s moral victory weakens Ana Botin 10 Dec 2021 A court awarded the Italian banker 68 mln euros as compensation for Santander’s sloppy U-turn on making him its CEO. The Spanish bank will appeal. But the ruling vindicates Orcel’s decision to fight, while reviving doubts about Santander’s chair, and the rest of the board.
Visa-Mastercard payments duopoly has staying power 8 Dec 2021 The $770 bln duo’s shares are down 5% in 2021. Investors worry that Amazon and banks will negotiate sweeter terms, or that fintech will cut out middlemen. But even if they have to give up some revenue, none of the threats are existential. Current valuations are too pessimistic.
Capital Calls: Amazon’s wage rise 14 Sep 2021 Concise views on global finance: The e-commerce giant’s salary strategy could catch on.
Capital Calls: Geely’s employee stock awards 1 Sep 2021 Concise views on global finance: The Chinese automaker shifts the idea of granting workers share options into gear.
Hollywood talent wars call for a new currency 12 Aug 2021 Scarlett Johansson’s fight with Disney shows the old model of paying stars based on the box office doesn’t work in an age of streaming. Netflix has its own radical alternative, but there’s another way, too: Align stars’ pay more closely with numbers shareholders care about.
Jamie Dimon’s $50 mln award is sane in a mad world 21 Jul 2021 That’s the rough value of stock options the JPMorgan CEO will receive for sticking around for a “significant” time. It’s better structured than some packages handed out by big U.S. firms. But it’s not clear he needs the inducement, and the it’s-all-relative argument rings hollow.
Wizz Air CEO’s 100 mln pound bonus is aptly remote 6 Jul 2021 Jozsef Varadi’s payday could be even bigger than Michael O’Leary’s at rival Ryanair if his airline’s shares nearly treble. Linking such a big reward to stock performance looks crude but the target implies a fourfold revenue jump. Even Varadi can’t sustain that steep a climb.
Review: Reining in the crypto-fanatics 25 Jun 2021 Ex-Swift executives Gottfried Leibbrandt and Natasha de Terán traverse the payments world in “The Pay Off”. Anecdotes and explanations lend pace and purpose. But despite warnings about central bank digital currencies and other novelties, they ask more questions than they answer.
Capital Calls: Klarna, Dan Loeb, Fashion IPO 28 May 2021 Concise views on global finance: The Swedish “buy now, pay later” group’s possible $50 bln price tag may leapfrog rivals Afterpay and Affirm; the corporate agitator deserves a taste of his own medicine; About You’s mooted 3 bln euro valuation implies a discount to rivals.
Workers get the whip hand in economic policymaking 19 May 2021 New Zealand will cut low-skilled migration, U.S. President Joe Biden is hiking the minimum wage for federal contractors, and rate-setters everywhere are giving labour markets time to tighten. Such measures will help push up pay. Expect profit margins to fall or prices to rise.