Gender-based pay disparity increasing over years: Survey

"The much talked about pay disparity still exists. In fact, the gap has only increased in recent years. Most respondents (60 per cent) said the difference in pay has increased," according to a recent survey by TimesJobs.

Mumbai: Even as companies are becoming progressive by encouraging diversity in the workplace, a recent survey has found that gender-based pay disparity has increased over the years.

"The much talked about pay disparity still exists. In fact, the gap has only increased in recent years. Most respondents (60 per cent) said the difference in pay has increased," according to a recent survey by TimesJobs.

"About 60 per cent of employees surveyed have said pay gap has increased over the years, and this is an alarming situation. Organisations have to take tangible action to address this issue. Paying employees fairly has a direct bearing on the productivity of employees and impacts business revenues as well. There are many progressive companies today who are working hard to achieve this," TimesJobs and TechGig business head Ramathreya Krishnamurthi said.

The survey was done online from January to March with over 870 employees feedback.

It also revealed that about 60 per cent of respondents said women go to job interviews with a preconceived belief that they will get paid less than their male counterparts.

A majority (65 per cent) of men claimed that women employees are paid at par with their peers and only 35 per cent said women were paid less.

Moreover, 76 per cent of professionals affirmed that the productivity of women is still questionable at workplaces across sectors, whereas 24 per cent disagreed to the aforementioned statements, it added.

A majority (41 per cent) of the respondents voted for 'work experience' as a primary factor contributing to unequal pay.

Around 31 percent of respondents considered 'gender' as the primary reason for the pay gap across different sectors.

The study also showed that pay disparity extends beyond salary as well to even allowances, with 29 percent of respondents subscribing to this view, followed by respondents who acknowledge that the pay disparity includes other perks as well.

According to the survey, pay disparity is the highest at middle management according to 32 percent respondents while about 15 percent claimed it impacts the least at the C-Suite level.

As per the survey, the difference of pay between men and women is the highest in the health care sector, followed by IT, BFSI and automobiles sectors.

The pay gap in the functional areas was the highest in among engineers, followed by journalists, finance officers, doctors and nurses, it added.