Gender-biased Pay in Tech- Is a Swing Happening?

We’ve seen a seismic shift (actually, a seismic reversal) of the gender wage gap in software engineering leadership positions. In many cases, female engineering leaders are in such high demand that their compensation packages far surpass male engineering leaders, and most of these leaders couldn’t keep up with all of their LinkedIn InMail messages even if they tried. In 2 recent Engineering Leadership searches, we saw competitive offer situations with compensation packages as much as 30% higher than current pay.

This is a direct result of hiring managers demanding to see more diverse candidates from their recruiters, creating increased competition in the marketplace and subsequently driving wages higher. In one case, our scale-up client has budgeted for a diversity premium for key senior hires.

Interestingly, this has only shown up in engineering departments, possibly where tech companies see the biggest diversity gaps. For roles like Head of Finance it appears that these companies are not making the same demands for female finance leaders, despite the fact that these two fields face similar diversity challenges.

Wage inequities go far beyond supply and demand forces, but they certainly play a strong role. Will we see the wage pendulum swing for roles beyond engineering? What about for other underrepresented groups, like POC or LGBTQ? We also know that attracting diverse talent, and leveling up salaries is only part of the challenge in creating more equitably workplaces.

If you’re a hiring manager reading this, make sure that you always demand a diverse pipeline of candidates from your recruiters, and you should always lead with your best offer too! And if you are looking for more ideas and tools to improve Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility across your entire recruiting function, check out the incredible resources in the Artemis IDEA Toolkit.