Average pay for women FTSE 100 directors now 74% less than for men – £245k compared to £935k, what are the PR implications?
• Men dominate higher-paid executive positions – women make up just 14% of FTSE 100 board execs
• £59k average pay rise for men dwarfs £9k increase for women
The average pay for FTSE100 female directors now stands at just £246,000, 74% less than the average pay for FTSE100 male directors at £935,000, shows new research by Mattison Public Relations.
The gender pay gap for FTSE 100 board members has actually widened since last year, when women directors were paid 73% less than their male counterparts.
Whilst the average pay for male directors in the FTSE 100 grew by 7% (£59,000) in the last 12 months, female FTSE 100 directors only saw their average pay rise by just 4% (£9,000).
The gender pay gap amongst FTSE 100 directors is far worse than in the overall UK population, where women receive on average 15.4%* less pay than men in the broader job market.
Mattison Public Relations says that the substantial boardroom gender pay gap in the UK is a result of men being chosen for the vast majority of higher-paid executive director roles.
Only 34 of the 238 executive positions on FTSE 100 boards are filled by women – just 14% of the total. The average FTSE 100 executive director is now paid £2.7m. In contrast, women make up 393 of the 896 non-executive roles on FTSE 100 boards (43%). These roles are much lower-paid, averaging only £137,000 per year. The majority of board roles filled by women are the much lower-paid non-executive roles.
Even within lower-paid non-executive roles, female directors are paid markedly less than their male counterparts. Women non-executives were paid £101,000 on average last year, while male non executives were paid £166,000 on average.
Nick Mattison, Director at Mattison Public Relations said: “Businesses want to communicate their commitment to diversity but excluding women from executive board positions isn’t going to do that in 2022.”
“The way a business communicates its diversity has become a very important issue for many stakeholders, from shareholders to customers.”
“Having female senior executives is a much more powerful way to communicate that a business is taking diversity seriously. Businesses must appoint women to their senior executive teams and enable women to progress through the ranks more quickly if they want to be perceived as taking this seriously as opposed to box-ticking.”
The highest paid female director in the FTSE 100, Emma Walmsley, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, is the only woman to feature in the top 50 highest paid directors in the index. The highest paid director in the FTSE 100 last year was Sébastien de Montessus, CEO of Endeavour Mining, who received total renumeration of £17.5m.
Average pay of male and female non-executive and executive directors at FTSE100 firms
* Source: ONS, April 2021
ENDS
About Mattison Public Relations
Mattison Public Relations has specialised in providing PR programmes for financial and professional services businesses and corporates since 1996. We assist businesses in clearly communicating their values to customers, investors and other stakeholders, particularly on Environmental, Social and Governance matters.
We also deliver PR programmes based on thought leadership and proprietary research that drive improved market positioning and sales for our clients.
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Mattison Public Relations
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