More HUL managers become crorepatis this year, no salary jump for CEO

Approximately 205 managers at HUL received an annual income surpassing Rs 1 crore, compared to 153 managers in the previous financial year

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) witnessed an increase in the number of managers earning annual salaries exceeding Rs 1 crore in the financial year 2023 (FY23), however, top positions including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Managing Director (MD) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) slipped in the same period. The salary figure rose by 25 per cent from the previous financial year, reaching a total of 205 managers, compared to 163 in FY22.

According to a report from the Economic Times, there is also a shift in the age distribution of these high-salaried executives. In FY23, only one-third of them were under the age of 40, which represents a departure from the trend observed over the past decade when half of the executives in HUL's crore club fell within that age bracket.

A Business Standard report said that the remuneration itself for the positions such as the CEO, and MD declined 1.3 per cent to Rs 22.4 crore from Rs 22.1 crore in FY22. The remuneration for CFO, too, slipped 1.5 per cent to Rs 7.5 crore in FY23 from Rs 7.4 crore, in the year-ago period.

While HUL's salaries are partially tied to the company's sales and profitability performance, according to ET’s report, experts have noted that competition for talent has intensified, particularly from startups and direct-to-consumer firms, posing a challenge to HUL, one of the largest consumer goods companies in the country. K Sudarshan, Managing Director at executive search firm EMA Partners India, told ET that HUL serves as a continuous talent pool for various industries, including FMCG companies and consumer-facing direct-to-consumer brands. To retain top talent, HUL needs to continually enhance its recruitment efforts.

Despite a highly competitive talent market, HUL's voluntary attrition rate has remained below industry benchmarks in the FMCG sector. The company has recently gone through a transition in leadership, with India chief, Sanjiv Mehta departing at the end of the month and other managerial changes as stated in their annual report.

Earlier, PTI had also reported that HUL was among six other firms, among the top ten most-valued firms, that had witnessed a steep fall in its market cap on Sunday, June 11. HUL took one of the biggest hits as its valuation had eroded by Rs 18,949.45 crore to Rs 6.19 trillion.

Still the company remains positive that once a normal monsoon occurs, the commodity prices will reduce.