Search
Close this search box.

Nineteen of the FTSE 100 failed to post their gender pay gap

The gender pay gap has widened in 30% of FTSE 100 companies (2017 v 2022). In 2022, the median gender pay gap of the FTSE 100 is 16.5% – wider than it was in 2019

A review* has uncovered that the median pay gap has decreased by just 1.2% with almost a third of FTSE companies actually increasing their gap over that time period. It also found that a staggering 19 of the FTSE 100 have never publicly reported their data over the five years the GPG has been running.

David Whitfield, Co-Founder of HR DataHub, said: “The 19 companies that failed to report their gender pay gap in 2022 are not legally obliged to report because they do not have a legal entity in the UK with more than 250 employees. However, we would expect to see these organisations voluntarily file given their influential position on the FTSE 100. Not doing so reveals a great deal. Firstly, that these organisations are not striving to build a world with gender equality. Secondly, without legislation, companies are unlikely to step up and report voluntarily.”

As part of the review, HR DataHub compared the median FTSE 100 GPG in 2017 with the median FTSE 100 GPG in 2022. It found that 70% succeeded in reducing their GPG. On the other hand, 30% have increased their GPG.

In fact, nine FTSE 100 companies increased their median GPG by more than 5%, and 15 have increased their median GPG by 0%-5%.

HR DataHub also drilled down into the year-on-year change in median GPG amongst the FTSE 100.

In 2018, the median pay gap of the FTSE 100 was 17.7% and in 2019 this reduced again to 15.35%. However, in 2020 the median GPG of the FTSE 100 jumped to 18.7% – a 3.4% increase on the previous year.

In 2022, HR DataHub found the median GPG of the FTSE 100 to be 16.5%, which is 1.15% wider than it was three years ago.

Whitfield said: “It appears that the FTSE 100 are failing to step up in a way that we would hope and expect our captains of industry to. In being non-committal, or worse still, allowing their gender pay gaps to increase, the FTSE 100 are reinforcing gender inequalities. Some are clearly reluctant, whilst others appear to be making the right noises but failing to take action. There are many organisations that have proven change is possible. It is time that those at the top start to lead from the front.”

HR DataHub also drilled down into how the different sectors were performing when it came to reporting their GPG data and found that the banking industry has the highest gap (2021-2022) at 35.4%, whilst pharma has the lowest gap at 3.5%.

Within its review of the FTSE 100, HR DataHub identified the most impactful measures organisations have taken to reduce their GPG.

Setting diversity targets and mentoring were found to be the two most impactful measures. Whilst targeted development programmes and dedicated leadership programmes were also found to be highly impactful.

The top ten most impactful GPG reduction methods amongst the FTSE 100 were found to be:

  1. Set diversity targets
  2. Mentoring
  3. Targeted development programmes
  4. Dedicated leadership programmes
  5. External forum and/or charter members
  6. D&I awareness training
  7. Internal networking groups
  8. Formal learning and development programmes
  9. Training provided to recruiters and interview panels
  10.  Flexible working patterns

To see the full report please click here. 

Methodology
*HR DataHub manually reviewed every available FTSE 100 gender pay gap report after the 2022 reporting deadline (March 30th 2022). It recorded the measures taken by each company to reduce their gender pay gap and identified 40 common measures.

In addition, it used a combination of the government’s gender pay gap data files and company report to record the median pay gap % for each FTSE 100 company since the legislation was introduced in 2017. Where possible, the overall company gender pay gap data was taken (if several entities reported). If this was not possible, then the largest entity was used.

    Read more

    Latest News

    Read More

    Rise in recruitment fraud must urgently be checked

    28 March 2024

    Newsletter

    Receive the latest HR news and strategic content

    Please note, as per the GDPR Legislation, we need to ensure you are ‘Opted In’ to receive updates from ‘theHRDIRECTOR’. We will NEVER sell, rent, share or give away your data to third parties. We only use it to send information about our products and updates within the HR space To see our Privacy Policy – click here

    Latest HR Jobs

    University of Warwick – WMGSalary: £23,144 to £25,138 per annum

    The Open University – People ServicesSalary: £57,696 to £64,914 + up to £8,000 per annum MRP supplement*

    Cardiff UniversitySalary: Competitive

    University of Oxford – Oxford Department of International DevelopmentSalary: £28,759 to £33,966 (Grade 5)

    Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE

    Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE