The results of the latest Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability (CRS) Salary Survey have revealed that not only is the pay gap between men and women working in the sector closing, but women are now occupying more of the top jobs.
Now in its sixth edition, the survey, which is the largest of its kind, has been developed to provide a comprehensive insight into the salaries & benefits, responsibilities and backgrounds of people working in the corporate responsibility and sustainability (CRS) sector.
While global average salaries for men have dropped by 1% this year (£67.4k in 2016 compared to £67.8k in 2014), women’s salaries have risen by 5.6 % (£55.1k this year compared to £52.2k in 2014.)
Analysis of gender distribution by job title has also revealed that an increasing number of senior roles are now occupied by women. In-house roles saw a 7% increase in the number of women at director/head of department level, taking the total to 44%. There was also a pronounced increase in female representation at manager level with 59% CRS manager level jobs now occupied by women – an increase of 11% on 2014.
Within consultancies, the rise in women occupying senior roles was more modest with a 3% increase in women at director/partner taking the total to 30%.
Andy Cartland, founder and managing director of Acre said, “We were surprised to see the gender pay gap close so dramatically this year. Diversity has been a big topic within the sustainability community over the past two years, and the discussion appears to be having an impact”
Paul Burke, senior partner at Carnstone LLP said, “It’s clear that consultancies have some catching up to do with their in-house counterparts in terms of gender representation at senior levels, but that both are moving in the right direction can be seen as a very positive sign.”
Notes to editors
The Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability (CRS) Salary Survey is produced by Acre, Carnstone and Flag and has been developed to provide a comprehensive insight into the salaries & benefits, responsibilities and backgrounds of people working in the CRS sector – both in-house and for external consultancies.
-
There were 1,296 responses to this year’s survey, an 8% increase on 2014
-
61% of respondents were from the UK
-
18% from Rest of Europe
-
11% from North America
-
10% from Rest of the World
Highlights:
-
Average salaries have risen in all regions except the rest of the world (same as the 2014 report)
-
Global average salaries for men are £67.4k and £55.1k for women – (2014 it was £67.8k for men and £52.2k for women)
-
While global average salaries for men have dropped by 1%, women’s salaries on average have increased by around 5.6%
-
On average, consultants are paid £10k less per year than those in house (last year the gap was £8.7k, so the gap is potentially widening)
-
93% have first degrees or post-grads (this was 90% in 2014)
-
Over 55% of respondents were satisfied with their jobs and around 26% very satisfied.
-
The gender split was 51:49 in favour of women
-
Those working in North America are the highest paid
-
The average time spent in employment is 14.1 years
