March 8th sees the 110th International Women’s Day which this year adopts the theme #BalanceForBetter. It asks observers to celebrate women's achievements while calling for a more gender-balanced world.
In recent years there’s been an increasing global push towards women’s equity across society. It’s therefore an apt time for employers to think about opportunities for women and closing the gender pay gap.
UK employers publish gender pay gap figures for second year running
According to the government, the gender pay gap in the UK is the smallest it’s ever been. The gap stands at 18% on average across companies with more than 250 employees.
But with major household names admitting a median gap of 24% last year, there’s clearly still work to be done.
Pressure from public, government and employees to end pay inequity
This move for transparency from the world’s biggest brands is both illuminating and good news for campaigners pushing for change.
Employees at Google also made headlines last November as they staged a walkout. Their objective was ‘to protest sexual harassment, misconduct, lack of transparency, and a workplace that doesn’t work for everyone.’
This protest was partly a response to the search giant’s own admission that it has a pay gap itself (17% in the UK). Furthermore, it has a bonus gap (43% in the UK), and employs more men than women – especially in top jobs.
Rather ironically, the collective voice of Google’s employees was amplified via social media. It was seemingly quite successful in seeing the business step up to commit to changes. At least, that was the impression given by CEO Sundar Pichai when he answered to Congress in December 2018.
Employers must commit to change
All this shows it’s getting harder for employers to quietly ignore the gender pay gap in their businesses. It will be interesting to see if the gap has shrunk any more this year. Perhaps there’ll be more employee protests against the businesses that fail to show commitment and make changes. We can expect plenty of discussion on the subject during March.
Here at VERCIDA we want to help people find work with employers committed to closing the pay gap too. Learn more about advertising with us.