PwC has published comprehensive pay gap data relating to gender, ethnicity and, for the first time, socio-economic background and disability.
The accounting giant’s 2021 diversity report found that its staff – including partners – from a working class background typically received 12.1% less pay than other colleagues.
Kevin Ellis, chairman and senior partner of PwC UK, said the time was right to expand on the data it publishes. “Improving access to opportunity and striving towards a society where a person’s career is based on their potential and not their background remains a priority for PwC, and for me personally,” he said.
“The key to enacting real and meaningful change is starting with a strong platform of data. We’ve been focused on social mobility for a number of years and, by putting their trust in us through sharing their data, our people are giving us the information we need to take action in areas where it is needed.”
Diversity data reporting
The analysis, based on information shared by 80% of PwC’s people on the occupation of their highest earning parent, showed that 14% come from a lower socio-economic background.
Disclosure of data was higher at senior levels, but PwC said it hoped that by sharing the data and plans to improve social mobility, more people will feel comfortable sharing their socio-economic background.
On disability, 89% of PwC’s UK employees shared their data, of which 4% have said they have a disability, long-term/recurring or neurodiverse condition. It found that staff with a disability received 16.8% less pay, measured by the median.
Laura Hinton, chief people officer at PwC UK, said: “Collecting and publishing our disability pay gap is an important milestone for us as a business, but it is just one step in an ongoing journey. We’ve learnt a lot over the past few years about the importance of encouraging our employees to voluntarily share their data, which provides us with an invaluable tool in identifying and tackling areas where improvement is needed.”
PwC said its gender pay gap, including partners, fell from a median of 11.6% to 10.1%, comparing figures for 2020 and 2021. Excluding partners, PwC’s median gender pay gap fell from 7.8% to 6%.
It said it had made good progress “in strengthening our pipeline of female talent”, particularly at manager and senior manager level, and that women accounted for 41% of internal partner admissions this year.
Last week KPMG said that its staff from lower socio-economic backgrounds were typically paid 8.6% less than colleagues whose parents worked in “higher managerial, administrative and professional” jobs.
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