Last week’s release of the landmark gender pay gap data of almost 5000 Australian companies exposed entrenched gender inequality among some of Australia’s most high-profile employers.
Today, we take a look at some of the companies that have proactively responded to their gender pay gap exposure from last week.
Qantas
The national carrier had a total remuneration gender pay gap of 37 per cent, a higher than average gender pay gap for its industry (Transport, Postal and Warehousing), which according to Workplace Gender Equality Agency, is 20.4 per cent.
According to its website, Qantas has a long-term commitment to “ensuring merit-based gender diversity in aviation”. Women make up 38 per cent of senior management, and the airline has a goal to increase this to 42 per cent by 2024.
This week, the airline announced it would aim for 40 per cent female cadet pilot intake by 2028. In the last few years, the intake has averaged around 20 per cent.
Qantas Group chief people officer Catherine Walsh attributed the gender pay gap to “…a significant underrepresentation of women in highly paid roles like pilots and engineers across airlines globally”.
“We are working hard to encourage more women into pilot and engineering roles, particularly through our two academies, but the years of training required for these roles means improving the gender balance of these workgroups will take time,” she said last week.
“We’re expanding our outreach into high schools to promote aviation as a career which hopefully results in more girls choosing subjects that put them on track to become pilots and engineers of the future.”
Morgan Stanley
Investment bank Morgan Stanley had a median total remuneration gender pay gap over 48.2 per cent. In response to such figures, it is now introducing gender-balanced hiring panels that will interview more diverse candidates in an attempt to increase the ranks of women among its highest earners.
Women make up 13 per cent of the company’s highest-paying positions, and 64 per cent of the lower-quartile positions.
The local chief executive Richard Wagner said the bank has created a local diversity council to work with its Australian executive committee “to develop, retain and promote more women into positions of seniority where the base pay, bonuses and responsibilities increased.”
“Whilst this is the first year these figures have been publicly reported… this has been a key focus of the firm,” Wagner said.
One fund manager from Melior Investment Management told the AFR that a more effective way to address the gap is to encourage more men to take up parental leave.
“Companies are offering gender-neutral, paid parental leave. Sadly, the take up for men… they are not always doing it. There is a cultural shift that we need to undertake,”
“There are still some cultural issues with men taking up paid parental leave… There is a perception that they look like they are not committed.”
Commonwealth Bank
At the Commonwealth Bank, women make up 54.4 per cent of the workforce but suffer a 29.9 per cent gender pay gap.
The bank released a statement after the data was released, acknowledging “that achieving equality requires a sustained focus and commitment over time with interventions required at the organisational, sector, and national level.”
It restated its goals to support the progression of women and increase the proportion of women in both more senior roles and higher paying roles.
It also said they are making more specific actions through their Gender Equality Action Plan, and have set themselves the goal of achieving 47 per cent -50 per cent gender equality in Executive Manager and above roles by 2025.