Is the gender pay debate misleading?

Boss of IntY says focus on median pay values is 'misleading' as he reveals women and men at the cloud reseller are paid exactly the same for like-for-like roles

A cloud reseller that claims to pay its female staff more than men says monitoring like-for-like pay is just as important as focusing on median values.

All UK organisations with over 250 staff were obliged to report their average gender pay gaps by 4 April.

But Craig Joseph, CEO of cloud reseller IntY, says the focus on median values provides only a basic indication because it doesn't factor in the role or the seniority of both genders.

Despite having fewer than 250 staff, IntY has elected to publish its pay-gap data.

It claims to pay its female staff, who make up 31 per cent of its 56 headcount, on average (median) three per cent more than their male counterparts.

Moreover, women and men at the Microsoft partner are paid "exactly the same" when comparing like-for-like jobs, the firm claimed, adding that 40 per cent and 57 per cent of its board members and management team, respectively, are female.

Monitoring this like-for-like number is crucial, Joseph argued.

"It is IntY's position that pay for like-for-like roles should be equal regardless of gender, and comparing salaries across the business based on gender alone, without context, is misleading," he said.

Still, that didn't stop the Bristol-based outfit taking a pop at two competitors in the "cloud distribution" space, which it said paid female staff on average 18.7 and eight per cent less than men, respectively.

The overall median pay gap among tech firms stands at 18 per cent, with Microsoft last week reporting a median pay gap of 8.4 per cent. It blamed the delta partly on the fact that its male staff are more likely to be in better-paid roles, as well as the lack of young females pursuing a career in IT.