Equilar’s 2024 HR Executive Pay Trends report reveals a slight decline in compensation for top HR leaders at Equilar 500 companies, despite the increasingly crucial role of HR executives, particularly Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs), in navigating today’s multifaceted business challenges. The median pay for HR executives stood at $2.3 million in 2024, a decline of less than 1% from the previous year.
1. Slight Decrease in HR Executive Compensation
- HR executives at the 500 largest U.S. public companies by revenue earned $2.3 million at the median, a small decrease compared to 2023.
- Despite this decrease, the role of CHROs remains critical as they align and empower their organization’s workforce to execute company goals, as noted by Ani Huang, President and CEO of the HR Policy Association’s Center On Executive Compensation.
2. Gender Representation in HR Leadership
- Women in HR Leadership: Women occupy 68.7% of HR executive roles in 2024, up from 59.3% in 2020, reflecting a continued trend of female dominance in HR leadership positions.
- Increase in Male Representation: Following a decline in 2021, male representation in HR leadership roles grew by 52.9% from 2022 to 2024, marking a recovery.
3. Pay Equity Between Genders
- In 2024, the median compensation for male and female HR executives was nearly identical, with men earning a median of $2.7 million and women earning $2.6 million.
- This marks a shift from 2020 and 2021 when women earned significantly more than men, with pay gaps in their favor of 52.3% and 84.4%, respectively.
- Over the study period, men saw a substantial increase in compensation (61.2%), while women experienced a more modest increase of 2.2%.
While compensation for HR leaders has seen a slight decline in 2024, the role remains pivotal to organizational success. Gender representation in HR leadership continues to evolve, with women maintaining the majority of roles and pay equity becoming more balanced between men and women.
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