While women earn less overall than men at the largest accounting firms, the size of pay gaps varied across the biggest four firms.
Deloitte’s gender pay gap is more than four times as great as PwC’s, according to data published by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
For the first time, all private Australian companies with 100 or more employees were required to make public their gender pay performance data. While all big four consulting firms had pay gaps lower than the national average of 21.7 per cent, some edged closer than others.
The WGEA shared data on median base salaries and median total remuneration. Total remuneration includes base salary and bonuses, superannuation, overtime pay and other earnings. In reverse order, from highest earnings gaps to lowest, here is how the big four consulting firms sized up. The data excludes partners' earnings.
Of the big four, Deloitte had the greatest earnings gap in favour of male employees at 16.7 per cent for both median base salary and median total remuneration. While the workforce composition is evenly split by gender, men account for 62 per cent of upper-quartile earners.
Women make up 51 per cent of upper-middle earners, 60 per cent of lower-middle earners, and 53 per cent of lower-quartile earners. According to Deloitte, women comprise 46 per cent of senior managers, 39 per cent of directors and 33 per cent of partners.
In responding to the data, Deloitte said: “Our gender pay gaps are at their core, a gender representation issue.”
“While we have an even number of men and women working at Deloitte, we have a higher concentration of men working in our most senior employee role levels.”
EY had the second-greatest earnings gap between male and female employees with a median base salary gap of 15.9 per cent and a median total remuneration gap of 15.4 per cent. Women make up 51 per cent of the total workforce at the company and yet comprise only 40 per cent of earners in the upper quartile.
This article originally appeared on Accountants Daily.
