The gender pay gap among staff at The Irish Times has narrowed to less than 1 per cent.
In its latest gender pay gap report, the company said the mean hourly pay gap between male and female employees fell to 0.91 per cent in 2024, down from 4.24 per cent previously. This was well ahead of its target of 5 per cent by 2027.
The Irish Times DAC has previously highlighted the appointment of more women to senior executive positions as the main reason for the reduced pay gap.
In its latest report, it said the pay gap at the midpoint or median of salaries was higher, at 2.9 per cent. The company said it was seeing the benefits from several “positive initiatives” including the promotion of opportunities for women to return to work in part-time and job-share roles.
It also noted that the company’s senior leadership team was more than 60 per cent female.
While the company said it had a relatively small number of people who work part-time, the women who did were now paid “significantly more” than their male counterparts.
“This is predominantly due to the work being performed [experienced, senior editorial staff compared with semi-skilled staff in the company’s distribution teams],” the company said.
Gender pay gap reporting is now mandatory for organisations with more than 150 employees. They are required to report on their pay differentials.
The Irish Examiner and Echo, which are part of the wider Irish Times Group, reported a mean hourly pay gap of 4.69 per cent in 2024, down from 12 per cent in 2023. The gap at the midpoint of salaries was higher, at 11.8 per cent.
“The results show that the gap between the average female salary and the average male salary is also within our target at 4.7 per cent and this has improved over the past 12 months,” the company said.
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