Tech firms called out for living wage inaction

IT companies account for only 200 out of nearly 6,000 signatories to Living Wage Foundation

The tech industry lags behind other sectors when it comes to the number of accredited living wage employers, according to the Living Wage Foundation.

The organisation accredits employers who pay the Living Wage - which last week rose nationally to £9.30 and £10.75 in London - and has nearly 6,000 companies signed up to the scheme.

However, only 200 companies in the tech space count among these signatories, including channel firms Pentesec, ANS, Softcat, Utopia Computers, Phoenix Software, Pure Technology Group and Risual.

Craig Hume, MD of systems builder Utopia Computers, is part of the commission that oversees the calculation of the living wage rates.

Utopia signed up to the scheme five years ago, after Hume's finance director approached him about an apprentice's wage rising simply because they turned 21, and that it "didn't make sense" that employees doing a similar job were paid less just because of their age.

"That made us look at the whole pay structure," he told CRN.

"We were traditionally a retail business, so the minimum wage was the de facto thing that everybody just went to. We came across the living wage and it just seemed to be the perfect fit."

The living wage is reviewed annually and is calculated by the cost of an average "basket of goods" which is the minimum requirements needed to live without worrying about money.

It is different to the national living wage which is a government-set economic rate, which Hume said is not representative of what it actually costs to keep a house, put food on the table and afford things like cars or holidays.

He added that since implementing the scheme, Utopia's business has doubled in size in both business and headcount and has caused the introduction of other perks for employees, including the granting of company shares after one year with the business.

It has also changed how the company operates.

"There was almost a flattening effect before, where people that had been with us longer ended up being paid basically the same as people that had just came in the door," he explained.

"We pulled everyone together and we spoke about how we just wanted to make sure that there's no one here that was struggling financially.

"From there, the big thing has been the reduced stress-induced anxiety from the team because they're not having to worry about money, which has resulted in great staff retention, so reduced training costs and reduced recruitment costs.

"Now we have such a good culture that when we are looking for new team members, we get floods of CVs and so we really have the pick of the choice of people wanting to work with us."

Cliff Fox, COO at Pure Technology Group, said the company signed up to the initiative because it was the "right thing" to do.

"We didn't have to modify our salary structures substantially; there were probably a couple of apprentices that needed to be raised up immediately but we didn't have any big issues on complying with that," explained.

"I think it supports a fair scheme as a standard for businesses to look at and see if they need to do something different. IT is particularly known for being well paid, some sectors aren't and other sectors might need to look at that, but at least it's setting a benchmark for people to follow."

The noted lack of tech companies that are signatories of the scheme could be due to the reputation it has as a well-paying industry, Hume said, adding that there are still people working in the industry that are struggling to get by.

"The other thing is that a lot of IT businesses are maybe paying over the living wage, and they believe that getting accredited isn't really for them," he stated.

"Apprentices and level one technicians are still on a national minimum or a national living wage.

"Certainly the tech industry still has a long way to go. For example, in distribution, there's often a lot of warehouse guys and cleaners that need the uplift."