In this seemingly egalitarian era, a staggering number is challenging our cognitive boundaries. Imagine that when you work hard all year and barely save enough money for a set of home appliances, some executives of state-owned enterprises have easily taken away millions or even tens of millions of annual salaries. This begs the question: Is this a reasonable salary or a disguised form of legal corruption?
Recently, the news that the annual salary of a senior executive of a state-owned enterprise is as high as more than 8 million has caused an uproar on the Internet. This figure not only far exceeds the income of ordinary workers, but even exceeds the salary level of heads of government in many developed countries. In the face of such astronomical figures, the public has questioned one after another: is such a high salary contrary to the public welfare nature of state-owned enterprises? Has it embezzled state-owned assets that should belong to the whole people?
Let's first take a look at the specifics of these "sky-high" annual salaries. According to statistics, in 2022, the average annual salary of executives of China's central enterprises and state-owned listed companies will reach 1.34 million yuan, which is more than five times the per capita disposable income of urban residents in the same period. Among them, the annual salary of senior executives of some financial central enterprises has even exceeded the 8 million mark. This income gap is not only common in central enterprises, but also in local state-owned enterprises. For example, last year, the annual salary of the chairman of provincial state-owned enterprises in Zhejiang, Guangdong, Fujian and other places exceeded 3 million yuan, and the annual salary of deputy senior executives was also more than 2 million yuan.
Such a huge income gap makes people ponder: an ordinary employee of a state-owned enterprise may not even get 100,000 yuan after working hard for a year, but the senior executive can easily get a salary of 100 times that amount, is this gap reasonable? More importantly, these high compensation comes entirely from state-owned assets and taxpayers' hard-earned money, and are executives really creating value to match?
Turning our attention to other industries, this gap is even more striking. In the education industry, the annual salary of most school principals is just over 100,000 yuan, and it is difficult for even famous schools to exceed 500,000 yuan. In the field of medical and health care, more than 95% of doctors and nurses have an annual salary of less than 300,000 yuan. The contrast between the people's teachers and medical staff, who have quietly dedicated themselves to the country and the people, is less than a fraction of the salary of the executives of state-owned enterprises, and this contrast makes people feel sad and angry.
In the face of this phenomenon, some voices defended that it was for the purpose of "introducing talents with high salaries". But we can't help but ask: what kind of talent do state-owned enterprises need? Are they the "old oilers" who hold power and can sit back and wait for death through internal promotion, or those new forces with outstanding professional technology and management ability, and the courage to innovate and forge ahead? The answer is self-explanatory.
In fact, instead of attracting real talent, these sky-high annual salaries may become a breeding ground for corruption. In the absence of effective oversight, some SOE executives may use their power to seek personal gain for themselves in various ways. This not only undermines the value of state-owned assets, but also deviates from the social responsibility that state-owned enterprises should fulfill.
So, how can you solve this problem? One possible option would be to set a reasonable ceiling on the annual salaries of executives, following the practice of some developed countries. For example, it stipulates that the maximum annual salary of senior executives shall not exceed three to five times the average salary of ordinary employees in their units. This ensures that executives are paid commensurate with their responsibilities while avoiding disproportionate pay disparities.
It is worth mentioning that some local governments have already begun to experiment with this practice. For example, Guangdong, Chongqing and other places have imposed a "3-5 times" limit on the annual salary of senior executives of state-owned enterprises. This practice is not only conducive to controlling executive compensation, but also helps to improve the treatment of ordinary employees, so as to achieve a fairer and more reasonable income distribution.
In addition to setting a salary ceiling, we also need to establish a more scientific and reasonable salary evaluation system. At present, the compensation of executives in many SOEs is mainly based on the size of the enterprise, which ignores more important indicators such as efficiency and contribution. We should link the remuneration of senior executives with the actual benefits of the enterprise, industry ranking, technological innovation, talent introduction and other factors, so as to truly achieve distribution according to work and excellent remuneration.
At the same time, we need to strengthen oversight of the decision-making process for executive compensation in SOEs. At present, the salary decision-making process of many SOEs lacks transparency and is often controlled by a few senior executives. We should give full play to the role of the workers' congress and give ordinary employees the opportunity to participate in salary decisions. Only in this way can the fairness and reasonableness of the remuneration package be ensured.
In addition, we should also pay attention to the social responsibility of executives. As carriers of state-owned assets, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) bear important social responsibilities. Executives should not only focus on their own compensation, but also think about how to create greater value for society. We can incorporate the social responsibility of senior executives into the salary appraisal system, and encourage them to pay more attention to the long-term development of the enterprise and the contribution of society.
Generally speaking, the sky-high annual salaries of senior executives of state-owned enterprises reflect that there are still many deficiencies in the management of state-owned enterprises and income distribution in the mainland. To solve this problem, we need to start from many aspects such as system design, supervision mechanism, and evaluation system, and implement comprehensive policies. Only in this way can we truly maintain and increase the value of state-owned assets, promote social fairness and justice, and make state-owned enterprises truly become an important force in serving the country and benefiting the people.
Let's hope that in the near future, we will be able to see a more fair and reasonable remuneration system for state-owned enterprises, and see more senior executives of state-owned enterprises working hard not for high salaries, but for fulfilling their social responsibilities. Only in this way can our state-owned enterprises truly become the mainstay of the national economy and make greater contributions to the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.