Prepare to shed them now

The first lesson of life is that however bad you think it is now, things are going to get worse.
Just when it seemed that the apoplexy level couldn't get higher, out come the latest earnings figures.
In case you missed them - and you may have done if you weren't listening to the Today programme this morning, as they don't appear on the BBC website, or PoliticsHome or anywhere else I have searched - here they are. Those of a sensitive disposition may care to look away now.
Average earnings have increased by 2.2 per cent. This is a rise from the previous figure of 2 per cent, so hurrahs all round - except for the many people who got less, including those who received nothing.
Now comes the real story. Over the same period, the income of directors went up by 55 per cent. No, that isn't a typo. Not 5 per cent but FIFTY FIVE per cent. I make this 2,500 times more than the rises bestowed on their grateful employees.
Let us put this in context. No, not the context that the poor dears didn't get much last year because their companies had suffered in the recession. The workers didn't get much, either - in fact, they got a lot less even then than the the fatcats who employ them.
The context I mean is that bosses currently receive something like 80 times more than the lowest paid in their companies. So they now get 55 per cent more of that obscene figure. I suppose I could work out what it means in precise financial terms but my head aches just thinking about it.
And the apoplexy level has just burst off the scale.