1 week Ago By Susannah Donaldson
Inspiring and encouraging women to think of a career in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) has become an important part of the strategy for many large UK manufacturing firms to address the gender pay gap issue. Analysis by Pinsent Masons found women working for large manufacturing companies are paid 8.05 per cent less per hour than men in 2023-24, a slight decrease from the 8.
6 per cent average in 2021-22. The pay difference in the UK’s manufacturing sector is the lowest average of all of the sectors analysed, such as the technology, media and telecommunications, infrastructure and financial services sectors. However, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a higher national average median pay gap of 15.
9 per cent for the manufacturing sector in 2023, compared to data on the UK government’s gender pay gap data portal. The discrepancy is down to the different sets of companies surveyed. The ONS considers data from all companies, while the government portal data only includes 1,312 manufacturing sector employers with 250 or more employees who are obliged to report their gender pay gap.
Within the companies which reported their gender pay gap data this year, the average difference in median bonus payments to men and women was 13.3 per cent, which means women receive greater bonuses than men. This is in stark contrast to the mean difference in bonus payments where men receive more than women.
The data analysed by Pinsent Masons suggests some significant outlying figures where men in senior positions receive significant bonus payments in UK manufacturing. The data demonstrates continued efforts by large manufacturing businesses to close their gender pay gap. However, these efforts have to be set against long-standing challenges facing the sector, as the sectoral gender pay gap has its roots in historic societal and educational norms – the manufacturing sector and the STEM subjects have historically attracted more men than women.
This issue persists and the majority of STEM graduates in 2024 continue to be male, making recruitment of female graduates into the sector more difficult. Male employees still fill more senior or specialised manufacturing sector positions than female employees due to the historical pattern and these positions typically receive a higher rate of pay. Shift patterns, offshore work and anti-social hours are some of the reasons the manufacturing workforce still remains predominantly male.
Another issue contributing to the pay gap in the sector is that male employees tend to have better paid, more office-based roles than female employees. Large companies are committed to making progress through their focus on attracting and, crucially, retaining female employees. These challenges also represent an opportunity for the sector as the promotion of equity, diversity and inclusion is not only the right thing to do, but also gives those in the sector who are taking the lead on this issue, access to a broader and better pool of talent.
Some companies are trying to address the gender pay gap by putting programmes in place to encourage women to think of a career in STEM, introducing early career programmes, partnerships with universities and apprenticeship programmes. Recruitment strategies are also important for companies to reduce their gender pay gap. They include targeted recruitment to inspire women via STEM initiatives or returners’ programmes, putting in place flexible or remote working policies, reviews of succession planning to support women into more senior roles, and leadership and mentoring schemes.
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