IT gender pay gap alive and kicking

Mind the tech pay gap: female IT workers' wads are not as bulging as their male colleagues.

Results from this year's exclusive silicon.com Skills Survey show female IT workers are less likely to be pocketing the biggest salaries - and more likely to be on the lowest rung of the wage ladder.

According to IT trade association Intellect, the gender pay gap in the tech sector is worse than the national average. Intellect reckons female techies face a pay differential of more than a fifth, compared to a national average of 17 per cent.

The government has flagged gender pay inequality as a key issue for the forthcoming Equality Bill - included in the Queen's speech earlier this month. The Bill will push for organisations to be transparent about pay and includes a mention of banning secrecy clauses that prevent employees from discussing their salaries. "We cannot tackle inequality if it is hidden," the Bill states.

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Skills Survey 2008

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The 2008 silicon.com Skills Survey shows a third (32 per cent) of the female respondents are in the lowest paid wage bracket of less than £25k - compared to a fifth (20 per cent) of the men.

There is a degree of parity in the mid-tier wages - with around a quarter of respondents from both genders reporting salaries of £25,001 to £40k; and £40,001 to £55k. However the proportion of Y-chromosome techies who earn salaries in excess of £55k is almost double that of their non-Y colleagues: 32 per cent of men, compared to 17 per cent of women.

In the £55,001 to £70k salary bracket, just six per cent of women reported earning this much, compared to 14 per cent of men. For salaries between £70,001 and £110k the gap is not so big: nine per cent of female respondents to 13 per cent of men.

Men are also more likely than women to report bank-busting paycheques of more than £110k - five per cent of male respondents claim to earn as much, compared to a marginal two per cent of women.

When it comes to getting a bonus there is apparent equality between the sexes, with 42 per cent of both genders claiming to have received a bonus in 2008.

However differences emerge around the size of bonus, with the largest proportion (61.5 per cent) of female respondents getting the most modest bonuses of less than £5k. Slightly more than half (53 per cent) of male respondents reported bonuses this size.

In the next bonus bracket - of £5,001 to £10k - the genders switch, with more men than women claiming the cash: 26 per cent to 18 per cent respectively. But women are momentarily on top when it comes to bonuses between £10,001 and £20k: 18 per cent of females to just 12 per cent of males.

Moving up the bonus ladder, men are more likely to get relatively large bonuses - of £20,001 to £40k; and £40,001 to £60k - than women. No female respondents reported getting bonuses in these two brackets, compared to a total of 6.5 per cent of male respondents. This may reflect the higher proportion of men in senior management positions.

A fractionally larger proportion of women to men claimed the second largest bonuses of between £60,001 and £100k - 2.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent respectively. But for the biggest bonuses of all - of more than £100k - men came out just on top, with one per cent hitting the bonus jackpot. No female respondents claimed to have received bonuses this big.