Gender Pay Gap: Early Analysis Finds Fall To Record Low
Early analysis of the gender pay gap data for the 2023/24 reporting year by the Guardian has found that there has been a fall in the gender pay gap to a record low for the period since gender pay gap reporting became compulsory in 2017/18 for employers with 250 or more employees.
The deadline for public sector employers to report their data was the 30th March 2024, with a snapshot date of the 31st March 2023. For private sector employers and voluntary organisations, the deadline was the 4th April 2024, with a snapshot date of the 5th April 2023.
As at the time of wrtiting (7th April 2024), 10,521 employers have lodged their gender pay gap data. Last year, 10841 employers ultimately did so.
The early analysis by the Guardian has found that the median pay gap has fallen to a record low of 9.1%. That means that for every £1 a man earns, women are paid just 91p. Furthermore, 78.4% of employers pay men more than women.
The analysis of the gender pay gap data also found that the situation was worse than average in the public sector, with a median pay gap of 14.4%, with 87.6% of employers paying men more than women.
Overall, the sector of the economy with the largest gender pay gap measured in terms of the median pay gap was construction (22.8%). This was closely followed by finance and insurance with a gap of 21.5%, and then education with a gap of 20%. Amongst the lowest gaps were the accommodation and food sector (0.5%) and health and social work (1.5%).
Commenting upon the gender pay gap findings, Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), stated: "Working women deserve equal pay. But the gender pay gap is still a huge issue. At current rates of progress, it will take more than 20 years to bring men and women’s pay into line. That is not right. We cannot consign yet another generation of women to pay inequality. It’s clear that just requiring companies to publish their gender pay gaps isn’t working. Companies must now be required to implement action plans to close their pay gaps."
Four-Day Working Week: AI Predicted To Make It The Norm
As we highlighted in a previous article, some, such as Sir Christopher Pissarides, believe that artificial intelligence (AI) will contribute to making a four-day working week the norm.
Now in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box”, financier, Steve Cohen, stated that he believes that four-day working week "is coming" and is "imminent".
In his interview, Cohen stated: "A four-day work week is coming. Between the advent of AI generally...we hear from people that....people are not as productive on Fridays...I think its an eventuality......That should fit into a theme of more leisure for people."
Furthermore, a survey conducted by Tech.co called "The Impact of Technology on the Workplace: 2024 Report", found that 29% of those that had put four-day working week arrangements in place made extensive use of AI, whilst just 8% of those that had remained on 5 days did so. Furthermore, 93% of those who have incorporated AI confirmed that they either had or were open to moving their employees on to a four-day working week. In contrast, just 41% of those employers who have not incorporated any AI into their business either have or would consider placing their employees onto a four-day working week.
What the Tech.co findings illustrate is that having artificial intelligence technology in place is a key factor in whether businesses are able and willing to place their employees onto four-day working week arrangements.
A separate study by Autonomy, moreover, suggests that productivity gains from AI technology has the potential to allow 28% of the workforce to move onto a four-day working week by 2033. Commenting upon this, the director of research at Autonomy, Will Stronge, stated: "Too many studies of AI, large language models, and so on, solely focus on either profitability or a jobs apocalypse. This study tries to show that when the technology is deployed to its full potential, but the purpose of the technology is shifted, it can not only improve work practices, but also improve work-life balance."
