Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal | December 15, 2025 | wbjournal.com F O C U S W O R K F O R C E D E V E L O P M E N T BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer T wo of Central Massachu- setts' highest-paid CEOs run companies where median employees likely qualify for SNAP benefits. As the region's top-earning public company CEO, Ernie Herrman, presi- dent and CEO of TJX Cos. in Framing- ham, brought home $23.48 million in total compensation for fiscal 2024. at is a figure 1,565 times that of the com- pany's median employee compensation, which sat at $15,002. e TJX median employee compen- sation is $58 below the federal poverty level. TJX is the parent company for brands like TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, and Marshalls. Bob Eddy, chairman, president, and CEO of Marlborough-based BJ's Whole- sale Club earned $13.61 million in total compensation in fiscal 2024. As fourth on the highest-paid public company CEO list in the region, Eddy earned 513 times that of his median employee compensation, which is $26,507. At those pay rates, the median TJX and BJ's employees would have brought home about $1,250 and $2,209 per month, respectively, both well below the $2,608 maximum monthly income limit for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility for a house- hold of one, according to the Massa- chusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. ese low wages are by design to keep employees on part-time hours, which reduces the cost of benefits and discourages unionization. Companies, including TJX and BJs, end up employ- ing hundreds of people on government food assistance, turning public disputes over the social safety net – such as President Donald Trump's suspension of SNAP during the federal government shutdown this fall – into business issues. "Big corpora- tions and the big employers are the true welfare queens," said Mariana Chilton, professor of prac- tice at the UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences. BJ's did not return WBJ's request for comment regarding its median employ- ee compensation. TJX did not comment directly, instead sending a statement that the company offers a range of supportive services and programs for its employees. "At TJX, we know our associates bring our business to life, and we aim to support them by making TJX a terrific place to work, providing many career development opportunities, and main- taining our strong culture," TJX wrote in its statement. "Fostering a positive work environment to help our associates feel welcome, valued, and engaged is core to how we operate, and we believe this en- courages many associates to join us not just to find a job, but to build a career." Part-time work, by design Median compensation for TJX and BJ's employees is lower because the com- panies are heavily reliant on part-time workers, according to their individual proxy statements filed in June with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. is reliance on part-time work is intentional, said Chilton. "Employers purposely hire people at less than full-time, which then allows them to not have to pay health care," Chilton said. "ere's a disincentive in the system." Half of all Massachusetts workers who receive SNAP benefits work part-time, according to UMass Amherst's "SNAP Workers: Working People & SNAP Ben- efits in Massachusetts" report, released Poverty wages TJX and BJ's Wholesale Club are heavily reliant on part-time workers, making their median employee pay qualified for government food assistance Mariana Chilton, professor of practice at UMass Amherst PHOTO | ALLAN DINES The CEO of TJX, which operates TJ Maxx, makes 1,565 times more than the company's median employee compensation of $15,002 per year.

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