Big bank struggling to recruit women as major companies revealed to have significant gender pay gaps

The boss of one of Australia’s biggest banks says it’s still struggling to hire women, as fresh figures reveal major companies like Virgin Australia, Qantas and ResMed have significant gender pay gaps.

Analysis of 7800 employers and 1700 corporate groups by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency on Tuesday revealed 72 per cent had an average gender pay gap in favour of men.

On average, women’s earnings are $28,425 less than a man’s each year — or 78¢ on the $1 — and $11,204 of the difference comes from payments beyond base salary such as superannuation, overtime and performance bonuses.

But the latest data showed some improvements, with 56 per cent of employers narrowing their gender pay gap in the past year in what WGEA chief executive Mary Wooldridge described as “movement in the right direction”.

The gender pay gap is not a measure of equal pay but the difference between median earnings of men and women. Employers with a gender pay gap greater than 5 per cent are described as “in favour of men”.

Minister for Women Katy Gallagher said the big change came with individually reporting against employers.

“We’ve seen more employers reduce their gender pay gap this year, we’ve seen the size of the gaps come down and we’ve seen that more analysis and more consultations being done within individual employers to understand what’s going on and to take steps to address it,” she told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

“This is all really positive but yes . . . there is more to do to make sure that women are getting a fair crack at opportunities in the workplace and part of that is understanding really what’s happening at most senior level.”

Among the big employers, Virgin Australia had a median pay gap of 46.2 per cent, followed by medical devices manufacturer ResMed on 38.2 per cent and Qantas on 32.4 per cent.

Corporate groups like Woolworths, Coles and Myer have pay gaps between 3 and 6 per cent.

Major miners Fortescue and Mineral Resources have a pay gap of 16.9 per cent and 23.2 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, BHP improved its median gender pay gap from 20.3 per cent in 2022-2023, to 13.7 per cent.

Following the release of WGEA report, Macquarie Group chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake told the Financial Review Business Summit in Sydney that despite active outreach to students, the bank was still struggling to recruit junior female staff.

Macquarie has a median pay gap of 18.9 per cent.

“In a people business, we need to be able to access a wide range of talent, so we think it is smart business to invest in that,” Ms Wikramanayake said.

She added the proportion of senior female executives had to rise with the talent available, although they would not be willing to promote candidates to senior positions to boost gender numbers.

Business Council chief executive Bran Black said there was more work to be done to make sure women have equal opportunity across the economy.

“While there has been improvement, the report outlines more work is needed, particularly in male-dominated sectors, senior management roles and occupations with higher average remunerations,” he said.

The goal for employers is to have a median or average gap within the target range of minus or plus 5 per cent. Currently, only 15.3 per cent of employers are achieving this.

The WGEA’s Employer Gender Pay Gaps Report is available here.