This Monday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate a rule that requires companies to report pay data by race and gender; companies with over 100 employees will need to provide information as part of their EEOC reporting.
Since 2018, U.K. companies have been required to reveal their gender pay gaps and this has highlighted pay discrepancies. For example, Ryanair reported a pay gap of 72 percent—the worst in the airline industry. Companies who are not working towards closing the gap can be fined by The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which promotes and upholds equality laws across England, Scotland and Wales.
But for some of the brands, the negative social and reputation damage that they experienced have been fine enough.
The New York Times reported that after Google’s pay equity analysis, most of the company’s salary increases were given to men. Google has continuously said that they do not have a gender pay gap, but have admitted that they are looking at whether women are being hired at a lower level than men with equivalent skills and experience.
The Guardian reported that “Figures from the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) employment trends survey show 93% of businesses are taking action to close the gender pay gap and increase diversity in their workforces, compared with 62% who were asked a similar question in 2017.”
In September 2018, the wage gap in Boston was 17 cents; for every dollar men earn, women earn 83 cents. If progress in closing the pay gap over the past five decades continues at the same rate, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research has calculated that women in the United States will not reach pay parity until 2059.
However, I am a bit more optimistic that we’ll see a change in Boston come before other places in the United States as Martin J. Walsh, Boston’s Mayor, has outlined a plan to make Boston the first city to close the gender gap.
There is a nationwide program in the U.S. that helps train women in negotiation skills, led by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and its vision is to close the gender gap by 2030. Since 2015, Walsh has supported the AAUW Work Smart training for women and his target is to train 85,000 women by 2021. More impressively, a study of the AAUW Work Smart in Boston program’s first year found nearly half of workshop participants successfully negotiated a competitive starting salary or pay raise following their training.
Skillsoft is proud to have an office in downtown Boston, located in Post Office Square. Our vision is to help people and organizations achieve their fullest potential through learning and development, regardless of age, race or gender. Employing a diverse workforce that brings a variety of experiences, ideas and perspectives is very important to us and as such, we are committed to actively increasing representation of underrepresented groups within our company.
If you are a woman looking to overcome gender biases and build leadership, then I encourage you to take a look at our Women in Action program, a collection of high-impact training resources that are designed for women leaders and aspiring women leaders. Our program prepares women in all stages of their careers and aligns to the most relevant competencies for female leaders.
Our organization, and every organization, must not only support the inclusion of women in corporate leadership, but also ensure that women are confident in their ability to become leaders.
