Gender pay gap: female retail managers earn less than men

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
May 19, 2021

Mind the gap. Women in managerial and directorial roles in the UK retail sector are paid 21.1% less than their male counterparts, according to a new study. Given how big a chunk of UK retail is accounted for by fashion and beauty, that's bad news for both sectors.

And among all employees, the gender pay gap stands at 15.5%, meaning for every £1 earned by a man his female equivalent will only earn 85p, data collated by executive recruitment firm Anthony Gregg Partnership shows.

While the gender pay gap was down from 17.4% in 2019 and 17.8% in 2018, the earnings gap for women in assistant and cashier roles was only 2.2% — significantly lower than the 15.5% average for all employees and only a 10th of the gap for senior retail roles.

By taking an average (mean) salary of male and female full-time employees across all wholesale and retail roles in the UK in 2020, men will earn £35,043 a year compared to £28,725 earned by women.

The research highlights whether age plays a significant part in the gender pay gap and the difference in pay while working your way up the career ladder.
Women have experienced much higher levels of redundancies during the Covid pandemic than in previous recessions, according to the Trades Union Congress. 

Female redundancies in the UK hit 178,000 between September and November 2020, 76% higher than the peak reached during the height of the financial crisis when female redundancy levels hit 100,000.

Women over 50 suffer the largest gap, earning on average less than three-quarters of what men in the same industry earn. The percentage difference was significantly lower for those in the beginnings of their retail career with a £1,219 wage difference for those aged 22-29. 

Tony Gregg, chief executive at Anthony Gregg Partnership, said: “More needs to be done to bridge the gender pay gap in the retail sector. It is encouraging to see the gap shrinking, but there is still a long way to go to eliminate salary disparities, particularly in higher seniority roles. 

"When looking closer at the data over the last 10 years you can see that the improvement in the pay disparity has lost momentum. Without a clear downward trend in the pay gap, much remains to be done to achieve wage parity. It is clear that more retailers need to be transparent within their workforce concerning salary information and making this more readily available". 

He added: "Employers need to practise inclusivity and foster this within their workforce to encourage fair advancement of women’s careers.  It is only when we begin to change our thinking, that we may see the percentages level out”.