Wage inequality in financial services persists

Wage inequality in financial services. American companies and “political posturing.” Are liberal CEOs better in a crisis?; the rule of law is in 'recession'.

sexism and cities

This is not surprising. Women working in financial services believe they are being paid 'unfairly'. times A survey of 6,000 people found that only 23% of women believe they are paid fairly.

according to times, the pay gap in this sector is 21%, with women earning an average of £45.46 an hour compared to men earning an average of £55.16 an hour. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand where the feeling of unfairness comes from.

Peter Healy, chief executive of eFinancialCareers, which carried out the study, said progress had been made but “not enough to actually change that imbalance”.

At the perfect time, financial times Goldman Sachs plans to report that the gender pay gap has widened in 2023, with the gap widening from 53.2% to 54%, according to a report. That's not very good for the image of this industry.

the right thing

In the United States, the tendency for corporate CEOs to take on and support political causes is once again under attack. Calling this phenomenon “political posturing,” a team of legal experts concluded that it “raises significant business risks and social concerns.”

Of course there are examples. Bud Light hires trans activist Dylan Mulvaney (caught in the photo), followed by consumer backlash and Disney's support for LGBTQ rights, prompting Florida's governor to revoke Florida's special administrative status.

Instead, scholars suggest that executives make a commitment to remain neutral, or an “anti-politics pledge.”

The problem is that neutrality always collides with reality, or in other words, with political issues on which companies cannot remain neutral. Oh, and that dirty old chestnut is “doing the right thing.”Maintaining neutrality as a company should “Doing it right” starts to look like “we don't give…” I hope you get the gist. Shareholders just need to factor it in.

restless

Here's another look at CEO politics. Another academic researched CEOs' political ideology and how it clashes with crisis management. In this case, boffins used the Covid-19 pandemic as a case study.

The survey results are a bit concerning. Their analysis found that “companies with liberal-leaning CEOs were shown to be more responsive to society's response to COVID-19.”

Of course, this research raises all sorts of questions, but let's think for a moment about the strange world we live in.

where is justice?

Elsewhere, observers see the potential erosion of politics and the rule of law as externalities for which companies should plan.

The warning comes after campaign group World Justice Project said the rule of law was in “regression” around the world.

This could have implications, creating gaps in governance and increasing risk, said Natalie Runyon, director of the Thomson Reuters Institute.

In a world where populism is on the rise, war is raging in Europe, climate change is an ever-present threat, and economies face uncertainty, all we need is a breakdown in the rule of law. .