The gender pay gap is shrinking, but not at the very top
The gender pay gap has hit a record low. But there’s little improvement in women’s representation in the most senior ranks — whether that be chairs, directors or CEOs.
The gender remuneration gap is calculated each year by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency and it has just had its second biggest improvement on record. The pay gap shrank 1.1 percentage points from 2022-23 to 21.7%.
One of the big shifts behind this figure is an increase in women in management roles, with women now making up 42% of these positions. Yet this improvement in gender balance fades the higher up the ranks you go.
For instance, the report shows the proportion of women in board positions didn’t improve at all, remaining at 34%.
And women in CEO roles actually declined slightly, to 22% from 22.3% the year before. These numbers are very sensitive to the movement of a small number of relatively high-profile women, as this employer census covers private sector businesses with 100 or more staff members. That’s about 5130 employers.
