Now, in Poland, the disparity between the salaries of chief executives and those of ordinary workers has grown to such inflated proportions. A new ranking provides a glimpse of how large that divide can be, particularly in the retail sector, where workers often earn little because they don’t have to meet high standards to get hired. Pepco Andy Bond, chief executive of Pepco, last year received a salary that was the same as the total earnings of 239 average employees in 2024.
2 weeks Ago By Oskar Malec
Highest CEOs on the List
Andy Bond has led Pepco, which has store brands including Pepco, Dealz, and Poundland across countries like Poland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, and Germany. He returned to the post last March after a health-related resignation and received an unusually high annual salary.
This high pay comes despite low store-level wages in every market where the brand is present.
In terms of highest ranked directly behind Bond are InPost’s Rafał Brzoska and Grupa Kęty’s Dariusz Mańko, both of whom also receive significant pay compared with their staff. At the other end of the scale, however, are a few CEOs who make very little or no salary at all.
The Pay Gap and the Structure of Incentives
The trend is in line with corporate incentive structures, where CEOs are financially rewarded for keeping operations costs, such as payrolls, down. Simple logic: lower costs can mean higher profits for the company, which can then justify bigger bonuses for the boss. This dynamic is most pronounced in industries — such as retail — in which workers are easily replaced and wages are already low.
This pay gap still remains a focus of public and political discourse, especially as awareness around income disparity and fair pay in large corporations rises.
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