A TECHNOLOGY business headquartered in Jersey has become the first local business in the IT sector to release a gender pay gap report.
The document was published by Prosperity 24/7 in a move which Geraldine Evans, the firm’s chief operating officer, said was designed to create a “transparent and inclusive culture” and “benchmark the organisation’s position within the sector”.
While gender-pay-gap reporting is not a legal requirement in Jersey, Ms Evans said she believed the document was an “essential tool to ensure transparency and drive progress”.
“The experimental earnings and gender pay gap report produced by Statistics Jersey in June 2023 highlighted that the gender pay gap was highest in the information and communications sector at 28% and we wanted to see how we compare,” she explained.
As well as looking at pay rates for each role, the gender pay gap highlights broader workforce inequalities such as differences in career opportunities, unequal access to higher-paying roles, job segregation and the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work on women. Closing the gap, Ms Evans added, was not a case of “merely equalising salaries for similar positions”, as the “underlying challenges had to be addressed”.
Prosperity 24/7’s report shows that women represent 21% of the workforce, but that there is a “significant presence of women in senior positions”.
It also found that pay across the organisation was “fractionally more in favour of female employees”, with a median difference of £0.08 per hour in favour of Island women, which is a pay gap of +8.3%.
The report added that the mean difference was £0.10 per hour in favour of women, which is a pay gap of +10.1%. Recognising that the technology sector remained “male-dominated”, the report added: “We are taking steps to attract more female talent into our industry by supporting Island initiatives that address the barriers to women in technology, and offering training and mentorship programmes, and by partnering with organisations that support women and young girls with tech skills.”
Marisa Hamon, Prosperity 24/7’s HR director, added: “It is understandable that there is a gap in a traditionally male-dominated sector such as IT, and attracting female talent to the IT consultancy industry remains a considerable challenge with cultural bias often associating men with technical roles, which discourages women from pursuing IT careers.
“From junior colleagues to senior leadership, male allyship is an important factor in encouraging our female colleagues to step outside the perceived norms. We hope that this report demonstrates our commitment to increasing female representation in technical and leadership roles, as well as closing any gaps and ensuring fairness in recruitment, career progress and personal development.”
