Honeywell’s 23-story headquarters in Charlotte’s uptown isn’t the only thing high in the sky. So are the average wages paid to the hundreds of Honeywell employees working in the uptown building, according to a state report released Tuesday.
Honeywell pays an average wage of $315,328 at its headquarters – more than 4½ times the average wage in North Carolina ($67,474) and more than 3½ times the average wage for Mecklenburg County ($86,830), according to the state report.
Honeywell’s executives at its headquarters make more than average of course, which may account some for the high average wage. For example, Honeywell CEO Vimal Kapur made $15.4 million in 2023 compared to a median wage of $80,363 that year for Honeywell’s total employment of 118,500 workers, for a pay ratio of 192 to 1.
A Securities and Exchange Commission regulation requires companies to report the ratio between its CEO and median worker compensation. Honeywell’s information can be found on Page 97 of its 2024 proxy statement. Honeywell made headlines in 2018 in the first year of the requirement when it reported a CEO to median worker compensation gap of 333 to 1. Kapur was set to make $17.1 million in 2024.
The state report released Tuesday relates to the 2018 economic incentive agreement North Carolina struck with the advanced-technology company to get it to move its headquarters from New Jersey to North Carolina.
Honeywell’s decision six years ago has added to the state’s economy in multiple ways. The state’s $42 million economic grant is tied to Honeywell hitting targets for creating jobs, average wages and capital investment.
On those three fronts, Honeywell received all check marks on the annual report:
- Jobs created: Target of 615 jobs, actually created – 1,050
- Average annual wages: Minimum of $278,560, actual wages – $315,328 (the targeted wage was $348,200, of which Honeywell is at 90.5%, and above the minimum average wage)
- Capital investment: $248.1 million, actual investment – $277.5 million
On Tuesday, the state’s Economic Investment Committee approved a $3.4 million grant to Honeywell. This marked the fourth payment to Honeywell as part of the 12-year incentive package. Local incentives from Charlotte and Mecklenburg County bring the total incentive package to $88 million.
Charlotte snagging the Fortune 200 company was a major coup. With the project, Honeywell relocated its senior management team along with its Safety and Productivity Solutions business group headquarters. Honeywell also established a hangar at Charlotte Douglas International Airport to house the company’s headquarters aircraft and the associated flight and maintenance crew.
Honeywell’s technologies are used in a variety of industries from energy, safety, security, productivity and urbanization. It blends physical products with software to support connected solutions for buildings, factories, supply chains, utilities and aircraft.
“We selected Charlotte because it offers a great business environment along with access to a workforce that has the skillset Honeywell will need to be competitive over the coming decades,” former CEO Darius Adamczyk said at the time. Adamczyk was succeeded by Vimal Kapur as CEO in June 2023.
Honeywell is reportedly planning to break itself up, according to a report from Bloomberg. The industrial giant has been facing pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management to do a breakup. According to the report, an announcement could be made when the company announces its earnings next month.
Honeywell shares are up about 8.6% in the last 52 weeks, and have traded between $189.66 and $242.77. Shares closed Tuesday at $218.50. It has a market capitalization of about $142 billion.
Honeywell officials declined to comment Wednesday.
Note: This article has been edited. Kapur succeeded Adamczyk as executive chair in June 2024.