Men in retail paid up to 14% more than women, according to research

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Aug 24, 2016

Men working in the retail and wholesale sector are paid on average £4,523 more than women, according to new research on the gender pay gap from Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and XpertHR.

Analysis of salary data of more than 60,000 UK employees found that in the past year, male managers are 40% more likely than female managers to be promoted into higher roles with 14% of men being promoted compared to 10% of women.

CMI and XpertHR said the difference in promotion rates is one of the main causes of the gender pay gap, which stood at 23.1% this year versus 22.8% in 2015.

“Promoting men ahead of women is keeping us all back. Diversity delivers better financial results, better culture and better decision making,” said Ann Francke, chief executive of CMI.

The government has announced plans to introduce new legislation to force large companies to report on the pay gap between their male and female staff. The regulations are due to come into effect in April 2017.

“Even before the new regulations kick in, employers need to get on board with reporting on their recruitment and promotion policies and how much they pay their men and women. Transparency and targets are what we need to deal with stubborn problems like the gender pay gap.”

According to CMI, the average full-time salary for male managers now stands at £38,817. This is £8,964 more than the average female manager’s.

The pay gap is even higher for those in the ranks of director and CEO, with men on an average basic salary of £131,673 earning £16,513 more than women at the same level. There are also fewer women in executive positions, accounting for only 32% of director-level roles.