Fujitsu reports a 16.7% mean gender pay gap

Technology organisation Fujitsu has reported a mean gender pay gap of 16.7% as at 5 April 2017.

The organisation has reported its gender pay gap data in line with the government’s gender pay gap reporting regulations and ahead of the submission deadline of 4 April 2018.

The regulations require employers with 250 or more employees to publish the mean and median difference between hourly pay for male and female staff, as well as the mean and median bonus pay gap. Organisations must also provide details of the proportion of men and women who are awarded bonus pay, and the proportion of male and female staff across pay quartiles.

Fujitsu has a median gender pay gap of 17.9%. Women make up 16.8% of staff in the highest pay quartile at the organisation, 21.7% of the upper middle pay quartile, 29% of the lower middle pay quartile, and 30.8% of the lowest pay quartile.

The organisation reported a mean bonus gender pay gap of 40.8%, and a median bonus gender pay gap of 23.6%. In the 12-month bonus reporting period to 5 April 2017, 91.3% of male employees received a bonus payment, compared to 90.7% of female staff.

Fujitsu has committed to taking a range of actions to help close the gap, including encouraging more girls to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the development of an inclusive workplace culture in partnership with its Women’s Business Network, increasing the visibility of female role models, and promoting flexible-working practices. Other measures include supporting more women to progress to senior management level via mentoring, sponsorship, and bias-free internal mobility processes, as well as attracting and hiring more women through inclusive recruitment practices.

Its Gender diversity action plan sets out its ambitions of achieving a 30% female employment rate by 2020 and being recognised in The Times’ Top 50 Employers for Women by the same year.

Duncan Tait, corporate executive officer, senior executive vice president and head of Americas and Europe, Middle East, India, and Africa (EMEIA) at Fujitsu, said: “Diversity and inclusion is an essential part of my critical thinking as we seek to build the teams that will deliver on a strong sustainable business, building on 80 years of expertise while adapting to a digital future.

“One focus of our comprehensive [diversity and inclusion] strategy is our determination to improve our gender gap. This is only one aspect of our wider work, however in the tech industry it is a particularly uncomfortable truth that makes the gender gap a stubborn opponent.
“There is not one single over-riding reason why the gender gap exists in Fujitsu. However, the gap is a critical issue, and not one to be shied away from tackling. It is fundamental to building our diverse talent pool.”

Wendy Warham, head of networks and telecoms at Fujitsu EMEIA, added: “The answer to the question ‘what are we doing to close the gap?’ is that we are not ignoring the challenge: we are aware of the issues and we have a clear plan of action. We have chosen to be very transparent about the gender pay gap that exists within Fujitsu and to be one of the first large [organisations] to publish our gender pay gap. What we are doing is working with partners in the education sector, engaging stakeholders and key influencers and involving our own women colleagues in building our solutions.

“Our solutions are clearly focused on practical action to help reduce the hierarchical impact and occupational segregation. As a result, I expect to see a reduction in the gender pay gap over the next few years.”