Although men and women are represented at equal performance levels in the tech industry, men are twice as likely to be at management level and receive a 20% bonus. It is evident that men are dominating the tech industry, but it seems that there is more of a balance at lower levels. In a recent study by Mercer, results showed at junior levels, the split is 51% males, at mid-level it goes up to 75% and peaks at executive levels as women only make up 13% of the workforce. With this said, the gender pay gap in tech reflects these figures with men being paid more than women even though they work at the same performance levels.
Around 78% of large organisations admitted to having a gender pay gap in tech, with males earning more than females. Only 14% have a median pay gap for women in tech and 8% have no pay gap at all.
Producing a gender pay gap report
In April 2017 it became a regulation that large employers have to produce a pay gap report, their first being in April 2018. All organisations with 250 employees or more will have to publish a gender pay gap report each year. Companies will less than 250 employees do not have to publish a report but are advised to do so. If the number of employees varies within a company, they will have to produce a report in any year which they have 250 employees.
Large employers are expected to publish 6 metrics in their gender pay gap report which identify:
If large organisations do not comply with the regulations, then the equality and human rights commission will resolve this by formal enforcement. The commission will encourage compliance through a variety of activities which can include:
To find out more on how the commission will act on closing the gender pay gap, please click here.
Tech company stats
Facebook have produced a report showing positive results on their gender pay gap. Their women’s average hourly rate is just 0.8% lower than men’s, earning them an average of 99p for every £1 men earn. Women make up just over 39% of Facebooks lowest paid quartile and 29.5% of their top quartile. However, their bonuses are poor with women still receiving around 40% less than their male colleagues.
Googles report shows that women earn 83p an hour for every £1 their male colleagues earn. This results in their average bonus being 43% lower than men. Google has a lot of women staff, especially among its lower paid quartile, here they make up 50% of the workforce. However, this number drops in their top paid quartile where the figure stands at just 22%.
Apples report shows several reports due to their division of companies. Apple retail shows high levels of pay equality, especially in their technology division. 30% of women work in the Apple retail workforce and their average hourly rate stands at £1.05 which stand 5% higher than men. On average, their bonuses were 20% higher than their male colleagues. Women in Apple Europe Limited make up 45% of their lower paid quartile and their median hourly pay is 86p for every £1 that men earn. Unlike their enterprises, Apple UK figures are significantly lower. Women earn 74p for every £1 and only 88% of women received a bonus compared to 94% of men. The median gender bonus gap revealed that women received 57% lower than men.
Amazon has several divisions, like Apple, but have provided figures that cover their entire UK business. The average hourly pay for women is 0.7% higher than men, they earn £1.01 for every £1. However, amazons report reflects the stereotype for men in the tech industry as only 39% of all employees are women and only 25% of those are in management. This has an effect on the median pay figures, as it puts men’s earnings 6% higher than women and their bonuses are 15.9% higher than women’s.
The gender pay gap in tech seems to stem from how outnumbered women are by men in the industry and in management positions. With not many women entering the technology industry, it will have an impact on the closure on the gender pay gap. There are several reasons why women may not be entering the tech industry, but this is no excuse for the significant difference in the gender pay gap in tech. The pay gap report was made a regulation in hopes of closing the gender pay gap in tech and other sectors, therefore organisations should take an internal look to consider challenging the issue and creating positive gender pay gap reports.