Belated Happy International Women’s Day! Congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard to help promote a diverse, equitable and inclusive world! And thank you for fuelling the progress we have seen over recent years as we advance towards true gender equality. There’s a lot to be celebrated!
That said, there’s still a lot of work to do to create a world free of gender bias and discrimination, including in the workplace. Gender stereotypes prevail in many industries and roles, and women often still find themselves taking on the lion’s share of domestic and childcare responsibilities.
Arguably, it’s a lack of parity in our pay packages that most clearly demonstrates continued gender inequality at work. According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK continues to close the gap, but we still need to be mindful of the enduring differences, as published by the ONS in October 2021:
– Among full-time employees, the gender pay gap in April 2021 was 7.9%, continuing the downward trend. In April 2019, this figure stood at 9.0%.
– There remains a large gender difference between the pay cheques of employees aged 40 years and over and those aged below 40 years.
– Higher earners experience a much larger difference in hourly pay between the sexes than their lower paid colleagues.
– Managers, directors and senior officials have experienced the largest fall in terms of gender pay gap since the pre-pandemic April 2019 figure, in particular for those aged 50 years and over.
– The gender pay gap is higher in every English region than in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Clearly, we haven’t got to the gender equality finishing line yet. But we have made great strides on this challenging journey. ABL, your trusted recruitment partner, wishes you every success as you (and we!) continue on the road to a brighter, better, fairer working world for everyone. Belated Happy International Women’s Day, to one and all!
