A brand new research reveals female directors at UK’s biggest companies are still being paid a fraction of the amount their male counterparts receive. The average pay for FTSE 100 female directors stands at just £237,000, which is only slightly more than a quarter of the £875,900 paid to their male counterparts, revealed research by New Street Consulting Group.
With female directors paid 73 per cent less, figures show the gender pay gap at blue-chip companies is far worse than the overall population, with women paid 15.5 per cent less than men in the broader jobs market. The large pay gap at board level is mainly due to the majority of female directors at FTSE 100 companies holding non-executive jobs which attract lower salaries.
New Street Consulting Group director Claire Carter said the number of female directors at FTSE 100 firms has increased sharply in the last five years, but the research showed there is “much more to do.” She said, “Focusing solely on the percentages of directors that are women is not enough when trying to approach equality.”
In this year’s final update on the government-backed Hampton-Alexander review, which looked at female representation at the top of business, its target of 33 per cent of board positions at FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 firms being held by women by 2020 had been achieved. Sir Philip Hampton, who chaired the review, hailed the progress but said businesses needed to recruit and promote women to top executive roles “to sustain the changes made.”
Carter said, “The key to doing that will be ensuring that women have more executive responsibilities and are trained and prepared properly for taking on that responsibility. It will be a case of examining whether there are any barriers that are preventing females from reaching the very top at their organisation.”