Slower growth at Hindustan Unilever hits 8-figure salaries of top executives

Managers at Hindustan Unilever, who were earning salaries in eight-figure, may have to take a hit this year as the FMCG company is undergoing slower growth and changes in job roles.

Reportedly, there has been a dip in profits, ending up in just single digits.

ET reported from 129 in FY16, the number of crorepati managers dropped to 125 in FY17. In FY15, the company had 169 such managers.

"The number of people required to man marketing, finance and commercial management has been rationalised. People are getting bigger portfolios and, hence, there are fewer people doing bigger jobs. Therefore, compensation for the top few would likely be higher,” R Suresh, a corporate advisor to large groups, told ET.

Pay packages of many executives were trimmed and CEO Sanjiv Mehta saw a 2% salary increase to Rs 14.2 crore.

The average percentage increase in the salaries of non-managerial staff was 5.57%.

The crorepati managers, representing about 2% of HUL's total workforce, drew home a combined salary of Rs 276 crore - more than the total staff costs at rivals such as Marico and Procter & Gamble Health and Hygiene.

"At HUL, our reward philosophy is to ensure our employees are paid market competitive total reward, which is in line with our performance culture. The remuneration paid out to our employees is in line with our reward policies and it is inappropriate to do a year-on-year comparison of the number of individuals earning above a certain range,” HUL told ET in an e-mail.