Women in India earn 20% less than men: Monster Salary Index

Highlights of MSI

  • The gap has narrowed by about five percentage points from 24.8% in 2016 howevergender pay gap widens with experience and is highest at 25% for talent with 11 and more years of experience

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Highlights of Women of India Inc. survey

  • 69% employees of India Inc. feel that gender parity needs to be a top priority for their organisations; yet only 10% organisations have a robust gender diversity programme
  • 44% men confirm that they can be effective advocates for gender initiative programs at workplace; yet almost 80% women reveal that many men show support only in private
  • 32% women identified “not easily considered for top management roles” as one of the top challenges; only 13% men agree
  • 84% women consider safety as key parameter while choosing a job, and lack of it as a top hindrance, however about only half (48%) of the organisations take care of women safety if theywere leaving late from work

As India readies to celebrate International Women’s Day, Monster India, (www.monsterindia.com) one of the leading online career and recruitment solutions providers in the country, released its latest‘Monster Salary Index’ (MSI) highlighting the key aspects around gender. This index is complimented with the key findings from the second annual survey titled Women of India Inc. alsoundertaken by Monster.com.

Monster Salary Index- Gender pay gap:

Source: WageIndicator Foundation

The MSI data from 2017 indicates that the current gender pay gap in India stands at 20%where men earned a median gross hourly salary of Rs. 231, in comparison,women earned only Rs. 184.8. The gap has narrowed by about five percentage points from 24.8% in 2016however, the good news ends here. The 2017 MSI data suggests that gender pay gap in India increases with work experience. While men with 0-2 years of experience, earned 7.8% higher median wages than women, men with 6-10 years of experience, earned 15.3% more. Men with 11 and more years of experience earned 25% higher median wages than women.Interestingly, there is a marginally inverted pay gap in the experience group of 3-5 years, where women are earning more.

 

Sharing his views on the findings of the latest MSI,Abhijeet Mukherjee, CEO, Monster.com- APAC & Gulfsaid, “Let’s not get carried away with the narrowing gender pay gap revealed by the 2017 MSI because the gender pay gap in India widens as one gains work experience. Moreover, the overall gender pay gap of 20% is still a daunting number.

 

The scenario of gender pay parity is far from desired in India, especially when the country is gearing towards greater economic growth. However, before expecting a change in the pay parity policy, attitudes of men and women need to shift for this to become a reality. One thing that came to my attention from the Monster Women of India Inc. survey,was that as high as 40% women expressed that men fear being judged by their male peers and choose to support gender equality only in private. Also, 40% women feel men simply do not know what to do or say. The bright side is that 44% men confirm that they can be effective advocates for gender initiative programs at workplace.”

 

Women of India Inc. survey:

The Women of India Inc. survey by Monster.com was aimed at understanding the working women of India and their workplace concerns broadly were categorised under the parameters of- diversity, career growth and safety. Thissurvey was conducted on Monster India’s database capturing responses from about5500 working women (3100+) and men (2300+).

 

The “Women of India Inc.”survey witnessed maximum share of participation from Delhi NCR at 24%, followed by Mumbai (22%) and Bangalore at 20%. The participation from non-metros was at 36%.

 

Top challenges as working women; men and women disagree

Women highlighted the top challenges for working women as:

  1. ‘‘inadequate travel and transport facilities’’ (41%)
  2. “attitude of clients/ distributors/ vendors/ colleagues” (33%)
  3. “societal perception of women who work long hours” (32%)
  4. “not easily considered for top management roles” (32%)
  5. “not given responsibilities or promotions as per their calibre” (29%)
  6. “getting paid less for the same amount of work” (27%)
  7. “lack of proper childcare” (20%)

 

Responses from men disagreed on many of these aspects. For example, only 10% men, as compared to 27% women, highlighted getting paid less than men as a challenge. Similarly, only 13% men highlighted women were “not being considered for top management roles” as a top challenge.

#HeforShe beyond closed doors
In an eye-opener, 44% men confirm that they can be effective advocates for change for gender initiative programs at workplace. Even 39% women think the same. However, 40% women do feel that men are allies of gender equality only in private because they fear being judged by their other male peers or simply don’t know what to do around these issues (40%).

 

No more #MeToo

Despite women calling out (84%)safety as a key parameter while choosing a job and highlighting the lack of it as a top hindrance, about only half (48%) of the organisations take care of their safety if they were leaving late from work. Understandably, half of the women (50%) do not feel safe/ prefer to work night shifts.

 

From dough-makers to dough-earners

In terms of the reasons for working, 36% women believe they must contribute to family income whereas 18% women respondents work as they are the sole breadwinner of the family. However, some 27% women feel why they are even questioned on their reason to work.

 

The battle of biological and career cycle

Since equal number of men and women brought out lack of childcare facility at work as one of the challenges for working women, unanimously 70% of them welcome the Maternity Bill affirming that it will give new mothers time to adapttheir new lives and return to work. But 53% women reveal that their organisations do not offer flexible work structure. A whopping, 77% respondents also feel that crèche facility will increase willingness to return to work post maternity.

 

Lead by example- Captain, Oh Captain!

A majority of respondents (69%) feel that gender parity needs to be a top priority for organisations. However, 68% respondents expressed that even if gender parity is a priority, the management does not “walk the talk”.  Therefore, it is not surprising that only 10% organisations have a robust gender diversity program.

 

About 36% of all respondents indicated that there is a need for India Inc. to step up and implement pragmatic policies to bridge the pay gap and change employee perception for healthy work culture (44%) and foster equal opportunities (17%).

 

Commenting on the MSI, Paulien Osse, Director WageIndicator Foundation said, “The report is the result of an extensive methodical research undertaken across eight key sectors in India with an aim to empower recruiters and jobseekers to analyze salaries through a credible platform. It provides a view across a broad spectrum of industry domains, experience as well as functional groups.”

Talking about the MSI, Prof. Biju Varkkey of IIM-Ahmedabad said, “The study aimed at understanding salaries and related trends better, is a credible repository backed by data and elaborate understanding of the Indian job market.”

Notes to the Editor

The analysis presented in this report is based on the WageIndicator dataset covering the period of 3 years, from January 2015 to December 2017. This report provides a comparison of wage and working conditions figures for three periods: calendar year (January – December) 2015, 2016 and 2017. The wage analysis is based on data collected from Paycheck.in, the Salary Calculator and Monster Salary Index from the aforementioned periods. The sample used for the analysis consists of 20,994 respondents, 82.3% of which are men and 17.7% women. The sample contains only employees; wages of self-employed people are excluded. Employees from different age groups, industries, and various hierarchical positions in their respective occupations are included in the sample.

Monster Salary Index (MSI) is an initiative by Monster India in collaboration with Paycheck.in (managed by WageIndicator Foundation) and IIM-Ahmedabad as a research partner. MSI has successfully empowered jobseekers with a benchmarking to compare their salaries with other anonymous profiles across a broad spectrum of industry domains, experience, functional groups both in India and other global markets. For employers, MSI is an online salary survey that aims to provide employers with practical information and helps them make informed decisions by analyzing the salary market and optimizing employee remuneration.

MSI is aimed at empowering jobseekers by establishing a benchmark to compare their salaries with other anonymous profiles across a broad spectrum of industry domains, experience, functional groups both in India and other global markets. For employers, MSI has an online salary survey that aims to provide employers with practical information and helps them make informed decisions by analyzing the salary market and optimizing employee remuneration. The report covers eight different sectors – Construction and technical consultancy; Education & research; Financial services, banking, insurance; Healthcare, caring services, social work; IT Services; Legal and market consultancy, business activities; Manufacturing and Transport, logistics, communication.

About Monster APAC & Gulf

Monster, for more than 20 years, is a leading online career and recruitment resource and with its cutting-edge technology provides relevant profiles to employers and relevant jobs to jobseekers across industry verticals, experience levels and geographies. Monster provides the widest and most sophisticated job seeking, career management, recruitment and talent management capabilities.

 

Monster in APAC & Gulf started its operations with India, in 2001 and has operations across India, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In India it is headquartered in Hyderabad, and has presence in 10 other cities of India viz., Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Chandigarh, and Cochin. Monster Mobile App in India was voted Product of the Year in 2016 under the ‘Mobile App Job’ category in a survey of over 18000 people by Nielsen. Monster.com in India was also voted Product of the Year in 2015 and back in 2014, mPower Search was voted Product of the Year as well. The Indian Air Force Placement Cell (IAFPC) selected Monster India for a collaboration to provide a robust platform to assist retired and shortly retiring Air Warriors seek suitable second career opportunities in the corporate world.  Monster also initiated ‘Rozgarduniya.com’ – a job portal exclusively for jobseekers in rural India to enable employers in corporate India to connect with rural talent, thus removing the traditional barriers they face in this process.

 

Monster continues its pioneering work of transforming the recruiting industry with advanced technology using intelligent digital, social and mobile solutions, and a vast array of products and services.

 

To learn more about Monster in APAC & Gulf, visit: www.monsterindia.com| www.monstergulf.com | www.monster.com.sg | www.monster.com.my | www.monster.com.ph | www.monster.com.hk

 

About WageIndicator Foundation (www.wageindicator.org)

The WageIndicator Foundation started in 2001 to contribute to a more transparent labour market for workers and employers. It collects, compares and shares labour market information through (online & face-face) surveys and desk research. It serves as an online library for wage information, Labour Law and career advice.

 

The WageIndicator Foundation is assisted by world-renowned universities, trade unions and employers’ organisations and currently operates in 80 countries. Their international staff consists of some 100 specialists spread over the whole world. The foundation has strong relationships with Monster since 2003. The WageIndicator Foundation is a global organization reaching millions on a monthly basis. For more information please visit:  WageIndicator Foundation, Roetersstraat 25-35 — 1018 WB Amsterdam, The Netherlands +31 6 539 77 695 – office@wageindicator.org

WageIndicator Foundation has offices in Amsterdam (HQ), Ahmedabad, Bratislava, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Dar es Salaam, Maputo and Minsk.

About Paycheck India (www.paycheck.in)

Paycheck India a research initiative at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad is part of WageIndicator, an organization that collects and shares data about wages, labour law and career in more than 80 countries.  Paycheck India aims to bring transparency in the labour market by providing salary predictions for 1600 occupations in India. It also provides regular updates on state wise minimum wages in India, living wage calculation, labour laws and career advice.

 

About IIM-A (www.iimahd.ernet.in)

IIMA is the leading school of management in India and one of the top rated management schools in Asia. It offers long duration programs in management, agri-business, executive management and faculty development programs. IIMA also conducts doctoral level research program in management and public systems. The institute has contributed significantly to management education of working executives, government and policy makers and armed forces. Faculty members participate in governance of firms and organisations by providing advisory, capacity building support as well as taking roles in boards and trusts. IIMA hosts Paycheck India and was the first Asian country to be part of WageIndicator.

 

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