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HarperCollins UK’s median gender pay gap has seen a slight decrease in favour of men from 4.8% in 2022 to 4.2% last year, but has shrunk from 10.4% since the company started this reporting the figures in 2017. Meanwhile, both the median and mean of the ethnicity pay gap have widened, with the company saying it was taking steps to address the pay gap and support ethnic minority staff at all levels.
The company’s Gender & Ethnicity Pay Gap Report, which was released this week, also noted that the mean gender pay gap has remained stable overall, with a marginal increase of 0.5% — from 11.4% in 2022 to 11.9% in this report — but this too has seen a decrease since it was initially reported, when it was 16%.
The reason why the gender pay gap persists has largely to do with the "shape" of the workforce at HarperCollins UK — and publishing overall. "Women make up the majority of every quartile of the company, which includes our executive committee, which is split equally between men and women," John Athanasiou, the director of people at HarperCollins UK, explained in the report. "Our gender pay gap is driven by our upper quartile, which also has a higher proportion of men than the company average."
The percentage of HarperCollins staff from ethnic minority backgrounds has remained stable over the past year, at 11%, while the mean ethnicity pay gap is at 10.8% — up from 9.7% in 2022, meaning that the average pay to employees from an ethnic minority background is 10.8% lower than that of the average pay to white employees. Moreover, the median ethnicity pay gap increased from 0.6% in 2022, to 11.9% in 2023. The median is the gap in pay at the middle of the workforce, and may be influenced by the smaller number of employees from ethnic minority backgrounds.
"The pay gap is primarily driven by a lack of ethnic diversity in our top quartile, especially in our senior leadership and executive committee," Athanasiou explained. "Reducing both gender and ethnicity pay gaps and increasing minority representation continue to be a priority for us, and we will continue to endeavour to make HarperCollins a place where everyone can thrive and reach their full potential."
The company is taking steps to address the pay gap and support ethnic minority staff at all levels, including through the employee-led network "Elevate", which "offers a supportive environment for Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees and advocates for diversity and inclusion at HarperCollins". Moreover, with the aim of attracting and recruiting talented employees from diverse backgrounds, HarperCollins UK has launched The Marketing Manager Traineeship, and has also "mandated and structured" panel interviews to target potential bias.
Staff retention is high on the list of priorities as well, and the publisher provides mentorship opportunities designed to improve ethnic minority retention, as well as offering "Stay interviews" with the same goal. It is also taking steps to help support senior-level employees from ethnic minority backgrounds, and has launched a sponsorship programme for the development of senior ethnic minority talent.
The company launched "pay transparency" in 2023 for the publishing side of the business, and will continue to extend this going forward.