Hay Group, a US-based global management consulting company, has analyzed the gender and wages of about eight million employees in 33 countries, including 57,000 people in India, and released a new report on Tuesday. According to the survey, Indian men, overall, earn 18.8% more than women on average, which is higher than the global average of 17.6%.
However, if comparing the salaries of men and women with the same positions at the same company performing the same function, the study shows that Indian men earn only 3.5% more than women.
According to the researchers, there are fewer women in male-dominated industries, such as science, technology and engineering, which pay above average; meanwhile, lower-paying sectors like hospitality and tourism are dominated by women. This is what pushes the overall average male salary above that of women, resulting in the imposing 18.8% pay gap.
"Our data shows that when it comes to thinking about pay on the basis of gender, a man and a woman in the same company, doing the same job will usually be paid nearly the same — but still favoring men by 1.6% (globally)," said Ben Frost, a global reward expert at Hay Group, adding that this is true throughout the world, form Sweden to South Africa.
"Getting more women into the higher-paying functions and industries will push up average female salaries, and help to close the overall pay gap," he added.
