Gender pay gap: big disparities at research-intensive firms

Figures from some of the top R&D spenders in the UK have shown large disparities between the salaries earned by their female and male employees.

Private and public sector bodies with more than 250 employees all had to reveal the difference between their average pay for men and women in the financial year 2017-18 by 4 April. More than 1,550 companies failed to meet the deadline, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Data are available for most of the companies that the consultancy firm PwC ranked as the top R&D spenders in the UK in its Global Innovation 1000 ranking. Some, such as British Telecommunications, reported paying women more than men, on average. At the other end of the scale, at the UK arm of software company Micro Focus men earned a median 32.7 per cent more per hour than women. The national average median was around 10 per cent.