Revealed: How many men would quit over gender pay gaps in the workplace

More men are joining the fight for fair pay, with one in three saying they’d reject a job at any company that underpays women.

Men are supporting the push for gender pay equality, with new research showing almost a third would think twice before taking on a role at companies that have a significant pay gap.

Fifteen per cent of male workers would also consider quitting their job if their employer had a high gender pay gap, while one-in-five men say gender pay inequality would reduce their motivation at work, the research from AI-powered start-up EvenBetter.ai reveals.

For women, the findings are even more stark: one-in-three would leave their job over gender pay gaps, while almost three-quarters would reconsider applying to work for an inequitable company.

Men are supporting the push for pay equality. Picture: iStock

EvenBetter.ai co-founder Ayal Steiner said the number of men supporting pay equality would come as a surprise to many and should serve as a wake-up call to businesses seeking to attract the best talent.

“Women clearly care about this issue more than men and that’s to be expected – but men care about this issue too,” Mr Steiner said.

“More and more, all people, regardless of gender, want to know they work for a business that doesn’t just care about the bottom line but that they are interested in doing the right thing.

“It’s not just a women’s issue. Men care as well. They don’t want their employer to be unjust.’’

LOST EARNINGS

According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, almost 85 per cent of Australian businesses still have significant gender pay gaps, with women needing to spend an extra 50 days on the job each year, on average, to earn the same as men.

Mr Steiner said the difference in earnings could total as much as $2 million over the entirety of someone’s career, which he described as “retirement money and helping the kids buy an apartment money that women and their families lose out on.”

But he warned several factors contributed to the gender pay gap within companies and encouraged workers concerned about their employer’s pay data to ask further questions before taking action that they may later regret.

Ayal Steiner, cofounder of Evenbetter.ai. Picture: Supplied

He said in some instances, the gender pay gap could be legitimately attributed to women and men working different jobs across a company, where female-dominated roles required less training and therefore attracted a lower wage.

Other factors contributing to gender pay gaps included conscious and unconscious hiring bias, higher numbers of female part-time workers and a lack of workplace flexibility to accommodate the caring responsibilities disproportionately undertaken by women.

“Having a gender pay gap is not necessarily wrong,” Mr Steiner said.

“But not being able to articulate where it comes from and why it happens, and not being transparent about it, creates suspicion.

“Employees should be asking questions, if their company has a significant pay gap, and

making sure they are clear about [why their employer is] where they are [in terms of pay equality].”

WHY EQUALITY SHOULD MATTER TO MEN

WGEA chief executive officer Mary Wooldridge urged workers to check the gender pay gap of their company on the WGEA website and have informed conversations with their employer and colleagues.

She said it was important all workers, regardless of gender, supported measures to close the pay gap.

Efforts to increase workplace gender equality had already improved men’s access to parental leave and flexible work arrangements, Ms Wooldridge said.

“[Gender pay equality] is not about women in the workplace, this is about all people in the

workplace being treated fairly and it will benefit everyone in different ways,” she said.

Ms Wooldridge was heartened so many Australians wanted only to work for companies that

were taking steps to improve workplace gender equality.

“The anecdotal evidence we are getting shows employers are being asked by job applicants

about their gender pay gap and what they’re doing about it and that’s really positive to see,”

she said.

SUPPORTING WOMEN TRADIES

Robert Borg, who was recently appointed Queensland apprentice employment manager at Apprenticeships Are Us, as the group training provider expands its reach beyond Victoria and NSW, believed it was important all men supported initiatives to improve workplace equality.

Robert Borg, Queensland apprentice employment manager at Apprenticeships Are Us. Picture: Supplied

“Women have been undervalued for many years, in all [employment] fields, and it causes a lot of disharmony [in workplaces],” he said.

“I’ve been in the trades for a long time and when I started I never saw any females in any of the workshops I worked in – not unless they were in a reception role making phone calls.

“Now, I see a lot more women are becoming [trades] managers and service managers, which is great. [The number of women working in trades] is picking up but there’s still more work to do.”

Mr Borg said not only was attracting more women to the trades sector important for improving gender pay equality in the industry but it would also help to reduce severe worker shortages.

WORKPLACE INEQUALITY

* More than 7800 Australian companies have an average gender pay gap of 20 per cent.

* More than 3000 companies have a pay gap considered high or very high, covering 1.6 million employees, including 750,000 women.

* 29 per cent of men would think twice before applying to a company with a high pay gap, compared to 71 per cent of women.

* 15 per cent of men would consider leaving their job over a high gender pay gap (compared to 35 per cent of women).

* 20 per cent of men say the existence of a pay gap reduces their motivation at work (compared to 41 per cent of women).

Source: EvenBetter.ai

Originally published as Revealed: How many men would quit over gender pay gaps in the workplace