In years gone by startups could blame their gender pay gap on a lack of knowledge about competitors’ salary data. Technology is also helping to close the gap. It will also make it easier for women employees who feel like they’ve been paid less than their male colleagues to sue employers. There have been growing calls in the startup world to provide more pay transparency on job adverts - which also brought down the adjusted pay gap - although Figures found that only 28% of startups actually did this.īut lawmakers are beginning to act, and a new EU directive coming into effect in 2024 will make it mandatory for companies to provide salary ranges in job adverts. According to data from Figures, the only companies that have eliminated the adjusted pay gap between men and women openly share what everyone’s paid across their workforce. “It’s not simply a case of women not asking, but of inherent bias within existing pay structures and philosophies.” What can be done about it? “The foundational issue lies in systemic behaviours that allow pay secrecy and bias to flourish when making pay decisions for men and women,” says Giymah. “This heightens the risk of gender bias influencing salary offers.”īut while there is research suggesting women ask for less money than men, other studies have shown that women ask for the same amount - they’re just not given it. “It takes deliberate action and careful management because salary negotiations are often carried out by many different people working at startups and scaleups,” he tells Sifted. The “ask gap” - the difference in salary expectations between different groups, which often leaves women and minorities being paid less - does contribute to this, but it’s still possible to create fair hiring processes, says Siems. ![]() New female hires are paid significantly less than their male counterparts - earning 82p for every £1 men earn. The pay gap in similar rolesīut the lack of women at the top doesn’t entirely explain the problem - there’s still a pay gap within most seniority levels that Ravio measures. Sifted found that two thirds of UK unicorns have a gender pay gap worse than the national average in an analysis last year. The issue also extends to late-stage startups and, according to Ravio’s data, tech companies at Series B and beyond have a pay gap of 21%. “That’s unlikely to change unless there’s external pressure from investors to embed this from the start,” she tells Sifted. “This creates a vicious cycle where more men develop more early startup experience and become strong candidates for future roles.”Įarly-stage startups’ focus on growth and staying afloat means that parity in employees’ career progression is often not high on their priority list, says gender pay gap consultant Michelle Gyimah. “More men are given the opportunity to join early-stage companies and take more of the senior positions,” he tells Sifted. This is partly driven by a recruitment problem at early-stage startups - where the gender pay gap is widest - according to Raymond Siems, cofounder and chief product and technology officer at Ravio. Around a third of manager, senior manager and director roles are held by women, and women make up just 13% of the C-suite at European tech companies. One of the reasons the startup gender pay is so wide is the lack of women in the highest-paid roles.
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