Gender pay gap persists in industry

In a report titled The Advancement of Women in the Workplace – which surveyed 6,000 people across 31 countries – Hays found that 52 per cent of the financial services industry believe men and women with comparable skills are not paid equally.

Financial services recorded the second lowest result of any industry, behind the construction, property and engineering sector, in response to whether “equally capable colleagues are paid/rewarded in an equal manner regardless of gender,” the report said.

Moreover, only 36 per cent of financial services employees reported their company had implemented a gender diversity policy.

The report also noted that female representation in senior roles remains low across all industries.

An additional Hays report, Gender Diversity: why aren’t we getting it right?, found that “women hold only 18.2 per cent of board seats in ASX 200 companies and 41 boards in the ASX 200 still have no women.”

“There are just seven female CEOs in the ASX 200 and 12 in the ASX 500,” the report stated.

Hays suggested that greater female representation is an essential part of business growth and improved performance.

“Many of the companies we speak to are suffering from skill shortages and increasing the number of senior female professionals will help to address these skills gaps,” the Advancement of Women report said.

“By improving access to talent, organisations will be better able to drive their performance, grow their businesses and secure future success.”

It found the most effective ways for companies to promote gender diversity were adopting more flexible working practices and reviewing their workplace culture.