This week EEF published its first Gender Pay Gap Benchmark for Manufacturing – Making Gender Pay Manufacturers’ Business. Today’s blog gives you a quick six point summary of what our new report tell us.

1. Employers have had to report on a number of Gender Pay Gap metrics

Regular blog readers, and indeed those companies in scope of the Gender Pay Gap Regulations will know that companies are required to report their Gender Pay Gaps based on 6 key metrics:

 2. The average gender pay gap among manufacturing employers is lower than across all sectors

When looking at figures from the Office for National Statistics, the gender pay gap in manufacturing is higher than the economy average. However, when you look at the figures reported by manufacturers for the purposes of the Gender Pay Gap Regulation, manufacturing figures are in fact lower. This may possibly be explained by only larger companies i.e. those with 250 or more relevant employees, being in scope.

3. There are a myriad of reasons why there is a gender pay gapWe’ve borrowed this image from our friends at the Government Equalities Office (GEO) as we think this explains things pretty well. From starting out to seniority, there are a number of factors behind the gender pay gap. This includes occupational segregation, with women more likely to work in the “5 Cs” – cleaning, clerical, cashiering, caring and catering, and men working in sectors such as manufacturing and engineering. What impact does this have? Well, engineering jobs tend to be more highly paid, and therefore occupational segregation has an impact on the gender pay gap.

4. In manufacturing, the STEM pipeline has a real impact

As I’ve already touched upon above, the sectors where women work have had an impact on the economy wide gender pay gap. But when we look at manufacturing, we need to look at issues even earlier….and I’m talking primary and secondary school age!

Young females are less likely than their male colleagues to study key STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects, this then has a ripple effect. There few female engineering graduates and even fewer female engineering apprentices. It’s for this reason EEF has been vocal on the need to get more women into engineering!

 5. Companies are already taking action to close the gap

This is just the first of our Gender Pay Gap Benchmark reports and so we’ve included 3 case studies – but we could have added plenty more! That’s because manufacturers have not just crunched the numbers, they are taking action. From STEM initiatives in schools, to enhancing maternity packages and flexible working opportunities, employers want to both attract and retain women into the industry – and they’re determined to close that gap.

6. There is more companies can do

There is some fantastic work going on out there but there is more that companies can do. We’ve provided some considerations for companies looking to close the gap, under the umbrella of – Evaluate, Educate, Create. The question is what more could your company do?