March 14, 2018

Guardian reveals gender pay gap of 11.3 per cent and targets 50/50 gender balance at top of organisation within five years

Guardian News and Media, publisher of the Guardian and Observer titles, has revealed its mean gender pay gap is 11.3 per cent favouring men.

Among the group’s editorial employees, the mean gap falls to 7.4 per cent.

In non-editorial departments, where the Guardian said there was a “a higher proportion of men in the highest paid roles”, the mean gap was 17.2 per cent.

This compares to a national average mean gender pay gap of 17.4 per cent.

ITN, which also published its gender pay gap report today, revealed a 19.6 per cent mean gender pay gap. The BBC’s gender pay gap is 9.3 per cent, while PA’s is 0.8 per cent.

GNM employs 1,557 people in the UK, of which 876 are men and 681 are women.

The pay data published in today’s report includes full and part-time staff and casual workers, but not freelances.

It shows that of the 390 staff in the group’s highest pay quartile, 65 per cent are men (252). Conversely, in the lowest pay quartile 57 per cent are women.

In a joint statement, Guardian editor Katharine Viner (pictured) and chief executive David Pemsel said the publisher was “committed to creating a workforce that is diverse and inclusive”.

They said: “The gap is driven by two main factors: there are more men in the highest paid and most senior roles; and there are more women in lower paid administration, sales and marketing roles.

“While this is the case at many organisations and reflects society more broadly, it does not make it acceptable. More must be done to improve women’s representation and ensure there are opportunities for everyone at GNM to progress.”

The Guardian has said it aims to achieve a 50/50 gender balance in the top half of the organisation within five years, adding: “This is an ambitious goal but one we will strive to achieve.”

It laid out an eight-point plan to achieve the equal gender balance, which includes fast-tracking women’s progression via a Women in Leadership programme and offering a mentoring scheme for all women.

Read the full Guardian gender pay gap report.

Picture: David Levene/TheGuardian