{"text":[[{"start":8.44,"text":"Clifford Chance, HSBC’s UK asset management business and McKinsey are among leading City companies to have disclosed a widening UK gender pay gap this year."}],[{"start":20.64,"text":"The deficit in the median woman’s earnings at Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance compared with her male counterpart rose to 38.1 per cent in the year to March 2025, an increase of 5.1 percentage points from the prior year, according to data it submitted to government. "}],[{"start":41.120000000000005,"text":"At HSBC Global Asset Management UK, which employed 395 people in the UK, the gap increased 8.3 percentage points to 29.2 per cent. Its parent company HSBC had a median pay gap of 45 per cent, a slight decrease on 2024. The combined group reported a decrease of 2 percentage points."}],[{"start":67.87,"text":"HSBC said: “We have made consistent progress towards improving our gender pay gap and increasing female representation in senior leadership, although we recognise there is still more work to do.”"}],[{"start":81.4,"text":"McKinsey — which published a report last year blaming wider pay gaps in part on women’s choice of jobs — saw its UK gap widen from 9.6 to 12.6 per cent in the period. The consultancy said closing the gender pay gap “remains a long-term priority. The gap reflects that we still have too few women in senior leadership.”"}],[{"start":104.7,"text":"The increases came even as the median income disparity at the UK’s large employers fell for the sixth consecutive year to a record low of 8.2 per cent — meaning per hour worked, women earned 92p for every £1 men took home, based on data submitted by companies by Thursday afternoon ahead of a deadline on Saturday. "}],[{"start":127.30000000000001,"text":"The gender pay gap has remained stubbornly high across the professional services, finance and insurance industries since mandatory reporting for employers of more than 250 people was introduced in 2017."}],[{"start":143.23000000000002,"text":"“The broader trend of gradual improvement is positive, but rising gaps at some major firms underline how fragile that progress can be,” said Tom Heys, UK gender pay gap reporting specialist at law firm Lewis Silkin. “Closing the gap requires consistent focus on female representation at senior levels and in often under-represented areas like engineering and sales.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":170.53000000000003,"text":"Clifford Chance said in its pay gap report that “numbers taken in isolation do not show the full picture” of its efforts to ensure equal access to opportunities at the firm. Its pay gap narrowed on a mean rather than median basis."}],[{"start":186.91000000000003,"text":"The FT uses the median gap — the midpoint of pay — rather than the mean to avoid a small number of high-paid employees skewing the figures."}],[{"start":197.54000000000002,"text":"The gender pay gap is defined as the average percentage difference between men and women’s hourly earnings across the business as a whole — meaning it can be affected by women being over-represented in junior roles or lower-paid occupations."}],[{"start":216.09000000000003,"text":"Employers with more than 250 UK staff are required to report the difference in men’s and women’s average hourly earnings and bonuses as well as the proportion of each gender in high- and low-earning roles each year. As of Thursday afternoon, more than 9,500 companies had submitted data ahead of the private sector reporting deadline on Saturday — around 85 per cent of the number of firms that submitted figures for last year."}],[{"start":244.28000000000003,"text":"Ginka Toegel, professor of organisational behaviour and leadership at IMD business school said the gap was hardest to close at the top of the pay scale because senior leadership posts and bonus-heavy positions still carry disproportionate weight."}],[{"start":262.33000000000004,"text":"“Disclosure alone . . . can create pressure, but it does not by itself remake the structures that determine who reaches the highest-paid roles,” she added."}],[{"start":282.00000000000006,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1775207482_1745.mp3"}