Adobe to bridge gender wage gap in India, US

Adobe Systems has introduced a gender pay parity policy in India as well as globally to achieve 100 per cent pay parity between male and female employees across levels, reports businessworld.in.

The company is working on closing the gender wage gap in the US by the end of its current fiscal year, in November, with women paid $1 for every $1 earned by male employees.

Pay parity is one of the key issues in drive for gender diversity. According to Monster Salary Index (MSI) data from 2016, the current gender pay gap in India stands at 25 per cent, where men earned a median gross hourly salary of Rs 345.8 against women who earned only Rs 259.8. The gap has narrowed by two percentage points from 27.2 per cent in 2015 and is closer to the 24.1 per cent in 2014. The survey was conducted on over 2,000 working women.

In India, the company said female employees are now earning 99 per cent of what male employees earn, and is working to bridge the remaining gap over the first half of the next fiscal year that starts December. Adobe’s US and India employees combined comprise 80 per cent of the company’s global workforce.

The company had conducted a gender audit four quarters ago to understand the existing pay gap. In India, the company has bridged the gap from 96 per cent parity to 99 per cent parity over the last three quarters. The company looked at the pay levels for male and female employees, and with all criteria – experience, performance, etc – being equal, it took corrective action to remove the pay disparity.

Abdul Jaleel, vice president-people resources at Adobe India said, “Gender pay parity is a project we have been pursuing over the past one year. We want to take a stand on the issue and achieve 100 per cent parity between pay of male and female employees. We are sharing the data openly and saying our goal is to provide equal opportunities and pay for all employees, regardless of gender.”