Is it realistic to expect adland’s gender pay gap to close sooner?

This article appeared in Campaign on May 1st, 2024.

Analysis by Campaign earlier this month revealed adland’s gender pay gap is set to close to less than 10% by 2029.

While the industry’s gender pay gap has largely been on a downward trajectory since 2017, this trend has noticeably slowed.

Lianre Robinson, general manager, EMEA at 1021 Creative and campaigning chair at Wacl, told Campaign: “You can see that when businesses needed to start reporting, there was massive change, really quickly.

“It’s rapidly slowed down in recent years when some of the pressure has gone off and there’s been other areas to kind of focus on. It’s not quite the same kind of attention.”

When Campaign has reported on the gender pay gap in the past, agencies have shared their policies designed to address it, such as fertility, pregnancy loss and menopause policies.

But with legacy structures and societal norms – such as women taking more parental leave than men – taking a while to dissolve, should we be expecting the gap to close more quickly?

Nishma Patel Robb

President, Wacl

The pace of change can be the eternal obstruction to actual change. And it seems nothing sees change slower than the gender pay gap.

Change is hard, and time consuming. It needs us all to work together across the industry to dismantle the system because it doesn’t work for anyone the way it is.

This is why Wacl is committed to achieving 50% proportionate representation of women in all leadership positions. We need more women at the top because the number of men in these roles undoubtedly skews the gap.

This isn’t a cry for a takeover, but for a conversation about equity. Because changing the system benefits everyone.

Jemima Monies

Chief operating officer, McCann London

Campaign’s UK editor Maisie McCabe wrote a piece cautioning marketers against letting data on the details distract them from the bigger picture.

While she was talking about advertising effectiveness data, it’s a lens through which we may want to consider looking at gender pay gap progress. Not least because the year’s lag in the reporting deadline means the data often doesn’t paint an accurate picture of the progress a business has made over the preceding 12 months.

There are other ways we can and should monitor our progress. Wacl is seeking to make sustainable change through its campaign to get 50% of women in our industry into the role of chief executive, a position that has the most power to create change in an organisation.

I am proud to be part of a leadership team that has women in chief executive, CSO, COO and ECD roles. That’s not to say we shouldn’t continue to prioritise gender pay gap reporting – it is currently the only way to track long-term trends. But we mustn’t forget to celebrate movement along the way [because it] signals positive momentum yet might fall between reporting lines.

Josh Krichefski

Chief executive, UK and EMEA, GroupM and president, IPA

Yes, it’s a minimum standard.

Overall, there has been progress, but I don’t think any of us are under the illusion that we are where we need to be as an industry. I’ve seen many agencies introduce much-needed initiatives to support a strong pipeline of female talent (across GroupM we have enhanced parental leave, initiatives like Visible Start, menopause support and policies). But these alone will not close the gap.

We must all work towards having a gender balance in our businesses overall, and within each quartile (not just the lower ones), for this to be a possibility.

Benita Meswania

Global chief people officer, Iris

This is a realistic ask but the challenge is more complex than it appears. It involves supporting agencies in developing effective practices and governance structures that facilitate change. This includes dedicating time to assess the current landscape, addressing pay equity gaps, and investing in training and education to foster the growth and career advancement of women.

Additionally, we must consider potential obstacles, such as the need for flexible working practices. Ultimately, the goal is to make this a focused priority that is deeply integrated into the cultural operations of an organisation, particularly within agencies. This often requires additional support and encouragement to evolve.

Katrina Bozicevich

Managing director, Manning Gottlieb OMD

Adland shows up favourably against other industries, where the pay gap can reach as much as 50%, according to the World Economic Forum. However, there is still a way to go to achieve gender equality.

We know that progressive policies are fundamental to closing the gap and, at Omnicom Media Group UK, we’ve invested in developing policies to support working parents, employees returning from maternity, surrogacy or adoption, and those experiencing menopause.

Even when policies such as these are adopted, they take some time to bed in and produce real change. So I truly believe that we’ll see positive acceleration across the industry in the coming years, as more agencies start to offer these.

However, I don’t think this alone will take us far enough. As an industry, we then need to come together to lean into some of the harder yards around structural and societal barriers. We also need to consider how we can contribute more to tackling some of those wider issues, given our privileged position in communications.

Sam Smith

Managing director, Household

Yes, because this has to happen. Looking at results once a year is helpful, but nobody ever creates real change because they need to check a box. So my answer is also no.

In reality, we are nowhere close to equality yet and the pay gap is one of the symptoms of this. Our industry is full of women and yet we currently only hold 17% of design leadership positions, with even less as agency principals.

To solve the gender pay gap, we need a more holistic solution. As leaders we need to make equality real in our own businesses, whether we need to report the results or not. We need to create modern working environments with diverse balance from the boardroom to the most junior positions and promote proactive flexibility.

Ultimately, all of this drives better results so, yes, let’s close it faster. It makes us better and actually makes business sense.

About the author

Becca Fuller