Tuesday, April 2, commemorates Equal Pay Day in the US, which was established to symbolically mark how far into the year women must work to earn what their male peers made the previous year. Inequities in pay for like work is a systemic workplace challenge. For example, using historical pay as a compensation reference point for women—specifically women of color—was shown to be a formidable obstacle to achieving equal pay across industries.
We’re marking Equal Pay Day at Pivotal by publishing our own pay data for US employees. We’ve released our U.S. pay gap data for the last three years to advocate for pay equality for women and historically underrepresented minorities who perform like work, and to hold ourselves accountable for bridging that gap.
For Pivotal employees in similar roles and circumstances in the US—meaning having the same job title, working in the same location, etc.—women earn, on average, $1.00 for every dollar that men earn; that’s up from 99 cents in 2018. Employees of color at Pivotal, on average, earn $1.01 for every dollar white employees earn. Within that, Asians earn $1.01, Blacks earn $1.00, and Hispanics earn 99 cents for every dollar compared to white employees. That data is unchanged from 2018, with the exception of comparative pay for Hispanics, which was $1.01 in 2018.
While our pay gap analysis is currently limited to U.S. employees, we apply similar pay practices globally to ensure that all Pivots are paid equitably. In the future, we hope to expand our analysis to other countries where we have a statistically significant number of employees.
Our Pay Equity Journey
While every organization is unique, there are some fundamental things companies can do to place themselves on a path towards pay equity.
For example, in 2016 we accelerated our own journey to pay equity by hiring a qualified consultancy to formally assess our compensation data. This helps us continually iterate on a comprehensive equal pay strategy. We have that same consultancy review our pay data periodically to ensure gaps do not emerge. We also regularly conduct comprehensive reviews of our hiring and promotion practices, and our merit-based pay. Frequent assessments allow us to diagnose and confront biases and organizational concerns.
Being transparent about pay parity is integral to creating a strong, healthy workplace culture; it inspires employees, holds organizations accountable, and prevents new and old inequalities from resurfacing. For example, a leader who cares about inclusion, diversity, and equity will consider how an offer to a candidate could impact pay equity within their team. This integrated thinking and awareness ultimately reduces bias from creeping into pay decisions that may occur at the manager level. The key is making fair pay for a fair day’s work a standard company practice for everyone.
If you’re interested in working at Pivotal, please visit our careers page to see current openings.
