Asda shrinks gender pay gap as female staff take more senior roles
Asda has shrunk its gender pay gap as female staff are reportedly taking more senior roles at the company.
According to the big 4 grocer’s gender pay figures published this week, Asda has shown a year-on-year reduction in both its mean and median pay gaps between men and women.
In a report submitted to the Government’s Gender Pay website, Asda confirmed that the median pay difference between all its male and female staff was 4.7% (6.1% in 2021), and the mean pay difference between all male and female staff was 7.6% (8% in 2021).
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Asda also noted that its gender pay figures remain lower than the UK average of 14.9% (median) and 14.6% (mean) as measured by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The supermarket stated that an increase in the number of female staff in senior leadership roles in its retail and logistics businesses was one of the main contributing factors in helping to reduce the gender pay gap last year.
As part of a number of initiatives to reduce the pay gap, Asda ran a six-month development programme last year to help increase female representation at senior levels.
Almost 300 of its staff participated in the programme and a similar one is planned for this year focusing on career development.
At the same time, there was no pay gap whatsoever for hourly paid retail store workers, who make up 84% of Asda’s total workforce.
“We are pleased that our gender pay gap has reduced year-on-year as we welcomed more female colleagues into senior leadership roles across our business,” Asda chief people and corporate affairs officer, Hayley Tatum said.
She added: “However, we know that more work is needed to close the gap further and we’re committed to giving female colleagues the support they need to progress their careers and move into more senior roles with Asda.”
The news comes as Asda responds to criticism from the GMB Union after the supermarket failed to raise pay for workers in line with other ‘Big 4’ retailers.
