Last week the Maritime HR Association invited its UK members to a breakfast session where they announced the findings of the UK pay gap within shore based maritime.
The 2017 Maritime HR Association annual salary survey captured over 2,500 UK employees working within traditional maritime functions such as chartering, commercial operations and shipmanagement – as well within corporate support and administrative roles.
Their analysis showed:
• A pay gap of over 45% (using some sensible assumptions based on annual salary data) with the proportion of women employed decreasing as salaries increase.
• Female staff bonuses are over 60% less on average, despite women being nearly just as likely to receive a bonus as their male colleagues.
• 95% of office support roles in the UK are carried out by women, while all of the 28 executive level roles reported were occupied by men. The roles that women undertake upon entering the industry therefore has an impact on their ability to reach the top pay quartiles.
• Very few women reach managerial level or above, with most working at administrative, junior and professional level (in accordance with Maritime HR Association job levels).
The value of a diverse workforce is widely acknowledged in many industries, but is slow to take hold in the very traditional and typically male dominated maritime world. The best way to achieve this will vary from company to company and there is no ‘one size fits all’. However, starting the conversations now and beginning the journey towards diversity and inclusivity is an essential element towards reducing the pay gap.
Just as maritime needs to keep up with technological advances, it also needs to look at its people. The world is changing. Are we set up to fully succeed in the future?
If you want to find out more about the Maritime HR Association or get support with embedding diversity initiatives in your business, get in touch with the HR Consulting team via [email protected] or +44 (0)1702 480142.
Find out more about the new Career Development for Women in Maritime programme here.
