KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- On Glassdoor, over half (51%) of reviews mention pay – a figure that has increased 9% year-over-year.
- Ahead of Equal Pay Day, a new Glassdoor-Harris Poll survey found nearly half (45%) of employed women say they feel comfortable sharing their pay with a coworker, but only 29% have actually done so.
- The majority (85%) of employed women believe they deserve a pay increase and 63% believe the Great Resignation gives them more leverage to negotiate their pay.
As past Glassdoor research shows, progress has been made to close the gender pay gap in what men and women earn in the United States. But as another Equal Pay Day approaches, there’s still more work to be done. To help check the pay pulse in the U.S. today, Glassdoor published a new survey conducted online by The Harris Poll among over 800 employed adults revealing 41% of employed women say the gender pay gap is a serious problem at their company.
So what needs to happen to help narrow the gap? Greater pay transparency is a start.
Pay transparency is fundamental to addressing the gender pay gap, but it’s still taboo to talk pay.
Online, talk about pay is increasing: On Glassdoor, over half (51%) of employee reviews mention pay-related topics, with the share of reviews mentioning pay up 9% year-over-year. Anonymous reviews are an important tool for salary transparency, but there’s more room for progress among employees and employers to help close the gender pay gap.
- Among Employees: According to the Glassdoor-Harris Poll survey, less than half (48%) of employees feel comfortable sharing their pay with a coworker. While 45% of women say they’re comfortable sharing their pay with a coworker, only 1 in 5 (29%) have actually done so.
- Within Companies: More than 1 in 4 (28%) employees say their company discourages them from discussing their pay with coworkers.
- The Transparency Perk: Nearly 2 in 3 employees (63%) prefer to work at a company that discloses pay information over one that does not. Yet only 19% of employees say their company discloses pay ranges internally among all employees.
“Greater pay transparency is a critical tool in closing the pay gap,” said Alison Sullivan, Glassdoor career trends expert. “If we want to see meaningful change by Equal Pay Day next year, it’s imperative that both employees and employers not only destigmatize the pay taboo, but actively encourage and participate in pay discussions.”
When it comes to negotiating pay, there are still barriers preventing progress.
It’s important to recognize that women are negotiating – nearly 7 in 10 (68%) employed women have tried to negotiate their pay, while nearly 6 in 10 (59%) reported being successful. So for the 32% of women who said they did not negotiate, what’s holding them back? We asked women what would prevent them from negotiating their compensation and uncovered a handful of barriers.
| Employed Women | |
| Fear of being denied | 34% |
| Fear of losing their job | 27% |
| Not having enough information about fair market compensation for their role | 25% |
| Not knowing how to negotiate | 25% |
| The potential for a negative impact on my future career opportunities (e.g., not getting assigned to key accounts/projects) | 22% |
| The potential impact on my relationships with coworkers | 12% |
“The more we all openly talk and share information about pay, the more we can remove barriers like fear and lack of information that deter women from negotiating pay,” Sullivan said.
Now is the time to negotiate your pay; arm yourself with data.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, more and more employees are quitting their jobs to explore new or better opportunities. In this job seekers’ market, employers are eager to recruit and retain talent and oftentimes are willing to offer top dollar to sweeten the deal. More than 4 in 5 (85%) employed women believe they deserve a pay increase, and the good news is that information around pay is more accessible than ever. For instance on Glassdoor, job seekers and employees can see industry-level, company-level and localized salary and total compensation information.
- Perfect Timing: According to the Glassdoor-Harris Poll survey, 63% of employed women believe the Great Resignation gives them more leverage to negotiate their pay.
- Information is Key: 25% of employed women say not having enough information about fair market compensation for their role would prevent them from negotiating their pay.
- Negotiating Beyond Pay: Half (50%) of employed women negotiated a flexible work schedule after receiving the initial job offer for their current job, while 43% negotiated pay.
“As the Great Resignation continues, now is a particularly good time to ask for a raise or look for a new job,” said Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor senior economist. “Employers are willing to pay top dollar to get talent to stay or come onboard, and job seekers and employees should use that leverage to ask a current or prospective employer for more money. When negotiating, always pair specific examples of your job success with data on your local market value. Whether you’re about to accept a new job or trying to land a raise, information is key to negotiating more money in your pocket.”
The path forward
For over a decade, Glassdoor has been committed to normalizing pay transparency among employees and employers by providing access to free pay data for all. With Fishbowl by Glassdoor, the professional community platform provides employees and job seekers access to conversations dedicated to sharing salary information and negotiation tips. While progress has been made, these survey results are a clear reminder that there’s still work to be done to close the pay gap.
Survey Method:
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Glassdoor from February 15-17, 2022 among 2,025 adults ages 18 and older, among whom 847 are currently employed full or part time. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact pr@glassdoor.com.
Glassdoor Methodology:
Glassdoor analyzed reviews submitted from Jan 1, 2019 through Jan 14, 2022 for U.S.-based full-time or part-time employees who have self-identified their gender. Pay-related keywords include terms like pay, paid, salary, wage, income or bonus and related terms like benefits or raise. Reviews about past jobs are counted by the last year the employee held the job
