International infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has published its 2021 Gender pay report, which revealed that its mean gender pay gap has fallen from 27% in 2018 to 21% in 2021 and its median gap from 33% to 18%.
Furthermore, its mean gender bonus gap for 2021 is 29% and the media gap is 26%.
According to the business, which employs 24,500 workers, the uneven distribution of females in its workforce and the higher number of senior male leaders in the organisation are key factors in its overall gender pay gap, noting that as employees become more senior within the organisation, the levels of pay and bonuses increase.
The group invests in development programmes through its diversity and inclusion action plan as part of its acknowledgement that it is part of a sector that is historically male dominated.
By focusing on minority groups to support retention and career progression, as well as engaging with young people to build better engagement with underrepresented groups, it aims to ensure the industry is open to all in terms of developing talent and providing everyone with the chance to build a career.
Leo Quinn, group chief executive at Balfour Beatty, explained that the group expected to see the small widening of the gap from last year, which was a result of more usual operating conditions returning in 2021 compared to 2020, which was overshadowed by Covid-19 (Coronavirus) lockdowns.
“In our first report, on 2018 data, our mean pay gap between male and female employees was 27%, the median gap 33%. In 2021, we have reduced our mean and median gender pay gap to 21% and 18% respectively. While the pace of change is never as rapid as we would like, we are making steady tangible progress in closing our gender pay gap,” he said.