Telstra Exec Pay Under Scrutiny – New Laptops, Vehicles Banned
Telstra investors and staff are set to face off over what many see as excessive pay arrangements for senior executives at the annual general meeting next week.
Investors are expected to take the company to task at next Tuesday’s AGM over executive pay, just months after CEO Andy Penn – who is personally set to trouser $4.5 million this year – unveiled a radical strategy to help improve the company’s bottom line by cutting $2.5 billion in costs and 8000 jobs.
A Telstra spokesman said the company is “aware a number of proxy adviser firms have recommended against Telstra’s remuneration report and a number of investors have also indicated a vote against.
“While we will not know the result until the annual general meeting, we are expecting a material vote against the report … which is naturally of great concern,” he said.
Telstra human resources exec Alex Badenoch recently sent senior leaders of the company an e-mail saying that their requests for new or replacement laptops and salary sacrifice vehicles would not be processed and there would be a freeze on recruitment, except for “critical, front-line and customer-facing” roles.