Men misjudge workplace pay and promotion discrepancies 

The latest ONS figures report full-time working women earn 7% less than men on average, yet three-quarters (76%) of working men still believe their company pays people equally for the same role, and 69% of men believe women are promoted equally based on performance. 

This comes as research shows over a quarter (26%) of working women were not promoted in pay, benefits or position in 2024, compared to just a fifth (20%) of men. 70% of men received a pay rise in 2024, 26% received a benefits increase, and 25% received a promotion – 6% higher than women across the board. 

Salary transparency remains varied across UK firms, with different genders reporting different employer approaches. 66% of men claim their employer has full salary transparency, compared to 51% of women. 

Women continue to face harassment despite men deeming problem ‘solved’ 

Outside of pay and promotions, one in four (24%) women have been made to feel uncomfortable or less qualified at work because of their gender. Almost two in five (36%) women have experienced workplace harassment in the past five years, including bullying or intimidation (8%), unwelcome sexual comments or advances (7%), and verbal harassment (6%).

In spite of these findings, three-quarters (73%) of men would characterise their workplace’s approach to addressing potential harassment as ‘supportive’, with 41% of men describing it as ‘very supportive and proactive’. 16% of women would describe their employer’s approach to harassment as ‘unclear’, ‘unsupportive’, or ‘actively discouraging’ – further showcasing the disconnect between men’s perceptions and women’s realities.

Barriers to progress go beyond pay parity and harassment 

The research goes on to reveal that challenges such as pay, promotion, and harassment are not even the most significant barriers women face in advancing their careers. Instead, women perceive the biggest barriers to be persistent work-life balance challenges (49%), gender stereotyping in technical/leadership roles (36%), and maternal caregiver career penalties (34%). 

Ronni Zehavi, CEO and Co-Founder at HiBob, comments: “Workplace change towards gender equality cannot be made without the more privileged group – in this case men, realising the significance of the challenge. While workplace equality has been a topic for the last decade, and while many men are firm allies and on board with the action needed, change is slow-paced. When we reflect that a third of the workforce is employed in companies that have less than 25% of leadership roles filled by women, it is perhaps not shocking that progress remains slow.

“Today’s research shows that male workers believe progress is significantly further ahead than it is – and this needs to change. To create a culture where change happens and is felt by every employee, companies need to increase awareness of the scale of inequality in the workplace, helping each employee understand the challenges and experiences others are facing. Allyship, as well as practical action by leaders, will help move the needle at the speed we need it to go now.” 

Accelerating business action: five tips to get started

To accelerate action towards workplace equality this International Women’s Day, HiBob is calling on companies to provide training to those in comfortable or more established positions of influence to understand and support gender equality in the workplace for those who are not yet feeling the benefits of equitable work environments. HiBob provides five tips to help businesses get started.

These include:   

• Invest in an inclusive culture: company culture matters when it comes to keeping and attracting the best people. That includes men, women, and people across the gender spectrum. Culture is essential to helping people thrive – and businesses succeed best when they have cultures built on diversity and inclusion
• Commit to C-level gender diversity: women and other role models from across the gender spectrum can help break gender stereotypes. Companies must start hiring and promoting team members from across the gender spectrum. Especially as recent studies show that organisations are more likely to hire more women leaders when there are already women in leadership positions
• Equalise the bottom line: commit to equal pay for equal work, childcare options, flexible hours, and mentoring programmes to promote equity and equality and boost their bottom lines. These four benefits should be part and parcel of the values and goals of every company that’s serious about chucking gender-related bias into the trash bin of history
• Eliminate double standards: encourage employees to check themselves against unconscious bias by asking: Would I feel this way if a cisgender man or woman did the same thing? Privately admitting our own biases is one of the best ways to combat inequality and inequity and help create a more inclusive and supportive workplace
• Celebrate diversity and inclusion every day: UK businesses have taken great leaps in the right direction. Most women feel comfortable and confident at work and almost half feel their pay is equal to men’s. More and more companies are providing women-specific benefits to help families divide childcare responsibilities evenly, and most importantly, people are openly tackling DE&I issues head-on

There’s still a lot of work to be done. As long as businesses keep moving in the right direction, talking through the challenges and recognising gender inequality, we’ll continue to make progress towards making gender equity and equality a reality for everyone.

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