Adland’s Pay Gap: It’s Still An issue, As Women Paid 23% Less Than Men

Chalkboard graph illustrating and upward line graph unequal pay bias towards men with stack of coins resting on top of a seasaw

Think the pay gap in adland is no longer an issue? Well, you’d be wrong. New research fresh from B&T in partnership with Honeycomb Strategy has revealed across the industry, the pay gap between women and men is 23 per cent.

The reality is this pay gap is a massive nine per cent higher than the Australian national average across all industries, which is reported to be 14.1 per cent (according to the WGEA Nov 2018).

When breaking it down, specialist agencies/consultancies and creative agencies experience the largest pay gap at 25 per cent. In numbers, this means a male working in a creative agency is raking in on average $120,000. For a female, it’s $90,000. Across media agencies, there is a smaller yet still significant pay gap at 21 per cent.

According to the research, the gender pay gap was evident in junior roles but is significantly worse at CEO, owner and GM levels. The median gross annual salary for a man at this level is $205,000 compared to $165,000 for women. Women are being paid on average just 80 per cent of what their male counterparts make.

The research found there was minimal variability in salary between those who are Australian-born and immigrants.

At B&T, we are staunch believers in gender equality, diversity, and inclusivity. In this day and age, there is no reason a male should earn more than a female. And, from our research, we can tell you the gaps in the marketing communications industry doesn’t just extend to gender.

These fresh insights prove that now more than ever is the time the industry as a whole needs to make a change. However, implementing a diversity and inclusion policy isn’t easy, especially when you don’t know where or how to start.

That’s why B&T founded a one-day conference called Changing the Ratio (CTR). In reality, however, it is much more than just a one-day affair. We see CTR as an ongoing mission to make diversity and inclusion the norm in Australia’s media and communications industry.

B&T’s CTR connects like-minded individuals who are hungry for change, while also challenging ingrained preconceptions surrounding issues relating to diversity and inclusion. At its core, it’s an event that sparks tangible action in the industry.

Unfortunately, it seems the industry is experiencing a sense of diversity fatigue; people are tired of talking about diversity and inclusion, frustrated by talk not turning into impactful action, and overwhelmed by the number of issues to address and the sheer magnitude of what must change.

That’s why we run CTR. We want to turn talk into action and provide the industry with the tools necessary to create meaningful change.

We still have tickets left to CTR, but they’re selling out quickly, so grab yours now. It’s all happening Thursday 30 May at the NSW Teachers Federation.

If you’re interested in learning more about the state of diversity and inclusion in our industry, such as: what do the senior leadership teams look like in creative agencies, media agencies, media owners, tech companies; who’s doing well in terms of diversity and who has a way to go; does discrimination exist in the industry; and what could be holding minority groups back, you can download our free report here.




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