• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, March 4, 2019

WPP is out with its UK gender pay gap report for 2018, which shows a slight widening of the overall gap to 14.9%, from 14.6% for the previous year a median basis.

That said, WPP seems to be doing better than UK companies overall, for which the pay gap is 17.9%, per the government’s Office For National Statistics. 

And the holding company points out in the report that on a mean basis the UK gap actually contracted somewhat, from 25.5% to 23.7% year over year. 

UK regulations require companies with 250 or more employees publish gender-pay-gap figures. 

In the report, the holding company lists the gap percentages for 18 subsidiaries that meet the 250 employee threshold. At the high end, J. Walter Thompson Group weighs in with a 38.27% gap in favor of men. At the other end of the scale, Precise Media Monitoring reports a 4% pay gap in favor of women. 

Just so we’re clear, WPP defines pay gap as the difference between the average earnings of all men and women in an organization. That’s different from equal pay, which refers to being paid equally for the same or similar work regardless of gender. 

Across the UK, WPP’s workforce is close to gender balanced with 51% men and 49% women. The pay gap is amplified by the fact that there a lot fewer women at the most senior management level, which is comprised of 61% men and 39% women. 

The report outlines some of the steps the company is taking to close the gap, and you can read about them here. 

My guess is the company (and many others) won’t crack the case by Equal Pay Day, coming up April 2. Hopefully, someday soon, every day will be equal pay day. With all gaps closed.