There are some startling statistics in our articles today.
And the most worrying of them all was this—an average Indian woman earns just 20.7% of what an average Indian man does. It may seem like an impossible number, but it’s a lived reality for a major chunk of the workforce. Even taking one year off from work could result in women earning 39% less than their counterparts who don’t. Not surprisingly, the unemployment penalty is generally more severe for women than men. Marriage, motherhood, caregiving responsibilities—take your pick.
It’s called the gender pay gap, and it’s very real.
The term is a measure of the difference between men’s and women’s average earnings. It results from pay inequity and unequal representation at all pay levels throughout an organisation.
Even tech giant Google, which often emphasises its inclusive workplace culture, wasn’t exempt from these biases. Recently, the company had to pay US$118 million to settle a class-action gender discrimination lawsuit that covered about 15,000 women. Its female employees alleged that the company locked them in lower career tracks, commensurate with lesser pay and bonuses than their male counterparts. LinkedIn, Netflix, Wipro, Morgan Stanley, the Swiss drug maker Novartis, Sterling Jewellers, National Australia Bank, and the BBC are all companies that have faced numerous pay discrimination lawsuits.
The reason most companies get away with this is that talking about salaries in the workplace is frowned upon. It’s almost taboo. And when they bring it up, employees are vilified. “We are caricatured as whining divas,”
But there are ways around it, and it involves a lot more than just one person’s willingness to put their career on the line to ask for a pay raise. Equitable pay. Pay audits. A transparent payroll system. Indexes can mitigate pay discrimination.
