IT consultancy scoops ‘worst gender pay gap’ title

An IT consultancy can claim the unenviable title of ‘largest gender pay gap of the government’s strategic suppliers.’

Sopra Steria, which focuses on digital transformation, revealed that median hourly pay for its female staff is 36.7% lower than it is for its male staff.

It ranks the London-run IT consultancy as the worst of a bad bunch, as out of the 27 strategic suppliers (each has £100m+ in state contracts), 18 have bigger pay gaps than the civil service.

But on top of paying women a third less on average than men, Steria also has a 75% and 55% male-female pay gap in its median and mean bonus payments.

The figures, which the consultancy was forced to unveil as part of a new requirement for employers of over 250 staff to publish gender pay gaps, will make Steria “pause and reflect”.

Also in a statement, the company said it had a “proud history of gender diversity,” as “one of our founding firms was dedicated to giving women the opportunity to work in IT.”

But in committing to “work we must do” to boost its workforce diversity, Steria said it would launch a women-only IT conference and hone an existing internal network for female techies.

The company, which recently signed a ‘Tech Talent Charter for greater workforce diversity,’ also pointed to 33% of its workforce being female, compared to the UK IT industry average of just 17%.

“We are not alone in addressing this challenge,” Steria said. “The technology sector as a whole must move closer towards equality in the profiles and remuneration of its talent.”

The government said the benefits of better gender diversity extended to helping with recruitment, reputation, retention, resources and representation when in front of clients and suppliers.