OMAHA, Nebraska - Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway voted decisively against a proposal that would have required the company to publish a report describing how it oversees its workforce across its sprawling operations.
The proposal, put forward by shareholder Myra Young, argued that Berkshire's decentralized management model has produced "inconsistent approaches to human capital management." Young cited concerns including complaints from pilots at NetJets about the unit's attention to safety and training, and a 2021 fire at an Illinois plant operated by Lubrizol that resulted in about $380 million in property damage.
At the same meeting, investors supported measures backed by Berkshire's board of directors to provide non-binding approval of how the company compensates its top executives, and to hold an advisory vote on that compensation every three years. Those proposals, commonly referred to as "say on pay," were approved by the shareholder vote.
Shareholders also reelected the full slate of 13 directors to the board, including Chief Executive Greg Abel and Chairman Warren Buffett.
Berkshire defended its approach, saying that its decentralized structure is an intentional cultural choice that leaves workforce decisions to subsidiary managers who are best placed to make them. The company maintained that, for that reason, a separate report laying out a centralized oversight framework was unnecessary.
The shareholder-backed oversight proposal contended that the lack of centralization had led to uneven human-capital practices across the conglomerate's nearly 200 businesses and its more than 387,000 employees. The proposal pointed to operational examples that shareholders said illustrated those inconsistencies, while Berkshire countered that subsidiarity helps preserve its culture and operational autonomy.
Context for investors and markets
The vote touches on governance and labor-management questions within a large, diversified conglomerate. It also highlights specific operational risks raised by shareholders in aviation and chemicals businesses that are part of the group.