Bosses of the 50 US companies that sacked the most staff during the recession earned 42 per cent more than their peers, concluded the research.
A report by the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington concludes chief executives shared little of the pain felt further down their workforces as unemployment peaked at 10.2 per cent last year.
A manager of an SnP 500 company saw a modest fall in remuneration last year, down from $9.4 million in 2008 to $8.4 million.
However, those who took the most aggressive approach to cost cutting often fared the best as average chief executive compensation of such organizations was $12 million, says the research.
The highest-paid "lay-off leader" was Fred Hassan, former head of the drugs company Schering-Plough, who earned $49.7 million.
"You see really serious long-term consequences of lay-offs. You get lower morale in the workforce, which can turn into lower productivity over time.
You have the cost of having to re-hire and re-train people when things pick up", the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Sarah Anderson, director of the institute''s global economy project as saying.