More women than men are dissatisfied with their current pay: study

Over 67 per cent of women respondents are planning to ask for a pay rise this appraisal cycle as they are not happy with their current level of remuneration, according to a survey.

“About 93 per cent of the respondents possibly or definitely plan to ask for a pay rise in the coming appraisal cycle for 2018, with women more likely to ask for a rise than men. Around 67 per cent of all women respondents confirmed that they would be asking for a pay rise in comparison to 64 per cent of men,” according to global job site Indeed.

It highlights the fact that more women than men are dissatisfied with their current pay, it added.

Interestingly, the survey revealed that while 20 per cent of women respondents believed that their male counterparts are being paid more than them, only 9 per cent of men feel their female peers are being paid less than them. More than half of the respondents said they had asked for a hike in the previous year, while a third said they had done so more than once during the same period of time, only to be refused, it said.

The reason given for the refusal was the lack of budgets, however, close to a third of respondents were also told their quality of work was not up to the mark, it said. In comparison to remuneration in other countries, over 64 per cent of respondents believed that Indian salaries are generally lower than the average, it added.
Further, a number of respondents also stated that they would be willing to accept alternative benefits at work in place of a pay rise.

“Over 60 per cent said flexible work hours as an alternative to a pay hike, while 47 per cent suggested an increase in annual leave. Close to 40 per cent also cited paid parental leave as a benefit they would prefer, while 63 per cent respondents asked for health care benefits instead of a pay rise,” it added.

About 80 per cent of respondents, in the 25-34 age group agreed that they would consider changing their job in order to secure a pay rise, it said.

The survey was conducted by UK-based consultancy Censuswide on behalf of Indeed among 2,005 employees from companies across sectors including IT, telecom, education, manufacturing and utilities, finance and healthcare. A majority of these participants were in the age group of 25-44 and in full-time occupations.