Klaxon: Marketing Week 2024 Career & Salary Survey shows the gender pay gap is narrowing. yay!
Except for a decrease of just 0.5 percentage points compared to the equivalent figure for full-time workers last year. Crucially, it is exactly twice the gender pay gap across all industries in the UK.
Late last year, my company sent out invitations to a glamorous party to celebrate the day models predicted eventual equal pay for men and women in the UK. The party was scheduled for 2043. We joked that we had plenty of time to choose what to wear. But this calculation, courtesy of the Fawcett Institute, is based on the UK's overall industry gap. If I pulled out a calculator and did some modeling for our industry based on the current glacial rate of progress… Well, you can't even do that.
Many media outlets have hailed 2023 as the “Year of the Girl,” with the return of femininity on the runway (Sandy Liang), on the screen (Barbie), on the table (Girls' Dinner), and that ultra-girls icon Taylor. Swift's rise has increased. But while many of us spent the past year openly celebrating femininity in pop culture, something more insidious was brewing in the world of work.
further gap
The 2024 Career and Salary Survey data reveals a dark picture about the nature of work for men and women. Nearly half (42.8%) of all women surveyed have taken on additional job responsibilities without adequate compensation, compared to 35.9% of men. They are being asked to do more work, even though they are already being paid less. Why would women agree to it?
While many of us spent the last year openly celebrating femininity in pop culture, something more insidious was brewing in the world of work.
First of all, let me be honest: we are not aware that our salaries are being reduced. While this may be true, persistent suspicions often cannot be fully proven due to a lack of pay transparency.
Hopefully that will change as the UK comes under pressure to comply with the EU's 2023 Pay Transparency Directive. From 2026 onwards, this regulation will require employers on the African continent to require data on individual pay levels and average pay levels by gender for workers doing the same work (or work of equal value) as themselves. Must respond to employee requests.
Interestingly, UK employers are unlikely to voluntarily go along, given that the Directive could impact on their ability to remain attractive to top talent, as well as customers and investors. While observers say it's prudent, the directive also helps level the playing field in a pinch. Another factor contributing to the gender pay gap is confidence and its impact on salary negotiation skills.
Once the EU Directive comes into full effect, a female employee who was found to have negotiated a better salary with one of her colleagues will claim unequal pay despite being entitled to the same fixed remuneration as her male colleagues. This will provide a basis for doing so.
In my humble opinion, it will be groundbreaking. When women learn that we have been financially overlooked and undervalued due to forced pay transparency, they are less likely to take on additional responsibilities without additional pay. think.
Why training and community building are important
But while we can hope that legal changes will eventually come to fruition that help address some of the structural causes of the gender pay gap, marketing departments must continue to work towards advancing women in the workplace. It won't. As we've talked about before, we know that women are less likely to self-promote or drive their own advancement, and less likely to feel confident in their own contributions to the job.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how these trends affect you when you're asked to take on additional responsibilities without additional pay. And that's on top of women's already disproportionate domestic mental load, thanks to the social conditioning that teaches us to “motherhood.” (For example, it literally took years to deprogram herself so that when a client arrives at the office, she no longer automatically thinks she should offer to make them tea.) )
Mental Health UK's research last month found women are 5% more likely than men to experience extreme stress in 2023, as well as Marketing Week's 2024 Careers & Salaries survey, as well as taking on unpaid work. Is it any wonder that it turned out to be 7% more likely? Overtime and increased workload. Alarmingly, the study authors also highlighted that women were less likely than men to think they needed to take time off from work due to poor mental health, and simply “joined forces.” ” suggests that there is pressure.
So let's hear about programs like Creative Equals/Business. This program and community is a program and community I co-founded to provide women, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people in marketing and advertising with the skills, confidence, and networks to take their next steps in leadership. is. With modules that include key topics such as identifying strengths, building boundaries, silencing your inner critic, and building negotiation skills, these initiatives are designed to help you do more for free with less pay. ” will help bridge the gap between men and women.
Let's be honest: It's been 10 years since Time magazine named 2014 “the best year for women since the dawn of time.” Well, I think we can all agree that the bar was lower back then…we can and must do better now.
