EasyJet’s gender pay gap: Male staff are paid 45.5 per cent more than women as it blames shortage of female pilots
EasyJet has revealed that its gender pay gap stands at 45.5 per cent, citing the make-up of its pilot community as a key reason for the disparity.
The firm said:
EasyJet’s gender pay gap is strongly influenced by the salaries and gender make-up of its pilot community, which make up over a quarter of its UK employees.
Pilots are predominantly male and their higher salaries, relative to other employees, significantly increases the average male pay at EasyJet.
EasyJet’s average UK pilot salary is £92,400, and 1,407 of its pilots are male compared to 86 women.
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In its first report based on the UK’s new gender pay reporting requirements, EasyJet said the gap between what male and female colleagues earn at the carrier, based on median hourly rates, was 45.5 per cent lower, and 51.7 per cent lower based on mean hourly rates.
Its mean and median bonus pay gaps, which it also has to report, stood at 43.8 per cent and 32.2 per cent, respectively.
Different roles at EasyJet and their respective salaries (Source: EasyJet)
The airline is attempting to boost its pipeline of female talent and encourage more women to become pilots through its Amy Johnson Initiative, with a target that 20 per cent of new entrant pilots should be female by 2020.
EasyJet said it wants to tackle “an industry-wide stereotype” to boost the number of new entrant pilots. It reached its initial target of securing 12 per cent in two years within 12 months, so set the 2020 goal to improve further.
By April next year, all UK firms and public sector organisations with 250 or more employees have to report what they pay their male and female staff.
At present, just 263 firms of an estimated 9,000 have reported the necessary gender pay gap information.
The Bank of England published its information last week, revealing a 24.2 per cent pay gap, and said it is taking steps to improve the number of women in senior leadership positions, and looking to prepare diverse shortlists and interview panels, offering flexible working and providing unconscious bias training.
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