WPP publishes UK Gender Pay Gap Report for 2023
21 Mar 2024
WPP today publishes its UK gender pay gap report for 2023.
From this year, in addition to statutory reporting for all legal entities with over 250 people, WPP has chosen to publish consolidated data for its total UK workforce. This will help provide a more representative picture and ensure a more accurate like-for-like comparison going forward by removing variations in entities that fall within the reporting criteria.
WPP’s overall mean pay gap reduced from 22.7% in 2022 to 21.2% (1.5 percentage points), driven by a positive increase in the percentage of women in the upper pay quartile.
The median gender pay gap has remained largely static, with a marginal increase of 0.3pp from 17.8% in 2022 to 18.1% in 2023. This reflects the difference in bonuses paid between the two years, where 2021 bonuses (included in 2022 figures) were higher-than-average due to WPP’s strong performance post-pandemic. By comparison, 2022 bonuses (included in 2023 figures) were smaller and awarded to fewer people, concentrated at the most senior levels where male representation is higher.
In 20231, women represented 53% of senior managers and 41% of executive leaders globally at WPP, while 40% of the Executive Committee and 42% of members on our Board were women.
When comparing 2022 and 2023 figures looking at fixed salaries – removing the variable bonus payment – our median pay gap falls from 18% in 2022 to 17.5%. This is due to a greater balance in gender representation across the organisation, namely an increase of women in the upper pay quartile, and an increase of men in the lower pay quartile.
WPP’s overall gender pay gap reflects a lower proportion of women in the most senior roles in our UK companies. This is consistent with the wider industry picture, with women occupying only 37.9% of C-suite roles in 2023, as reported by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising’s Agency Census.
Across WPP we're focusing our efforts on improving gender diversity and investing in women through a number of initiatives:
- Leadership programmes such as Walk the Talk and MAESTRO that continue to develop our high-potential women, while WPP Stella, our community for women, expands its membership and chapters globally;
- Our Menopause Workplace Pledge commitment which actively supports employees through the introduction of a new UK company-wide menopause support policy and training for line managers, accompanied by a new Menopause Champions network, focused on driving positive action and providing a supportive environment;
- Updated UK family policies, including piloting a new partnership with Careers with Babies to become an accredited world-class employer of working parents; and
- Visible Start, an initiative that helps train and prepare women aged over 45 for a new career in advertising, now in its third cohort.
Lindsay Pattison, Chief People Officer at WPP, said: “We believe that having greater diversity of backgrounds and perspectives across our teams translates into extraordinary client work. It’s why we’re committed to an inclusive culture that attracts the best talent, and why we will continue to focus on driving gender balance to ensure WPP remains the place for women to grow their careers and progress to the highest levels.”
|
Further information
Niken Wresniwiro
+44 (0)20 7282 4600 / +44 (0)7876 005 489
[email protected]
About WPP
WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information, visit www.wpp.com.