PwC: Progress towards gender equality in the labor market is too slow in Romania

Romania has made progress in reducing inequalities between women and men in the labor market, but the wage gap remains large, at 21.6% in 2023, according to the Equal Pay Gender analysis carried out by PwC based on the data collected in the Paywell survey.

The gap is calculated as the ratio between the average salary of men and women. Compared to the previous edition of the analysis, from 2022, the figure is down by 1.7 pp.

Oana Munteanu, Director People & Organisation at PwC Romania, commented: “Although in Romania the salary discrepancies between women and men have decreased, when we look at certain industries or higher hierarchical levels we observe much larger discrepancies, beyond the limits of tolerance, which must be resolved. The problem does not lie in direct discrimination, but rather in a difference in opportunities to access well-paid professions and jobs.”

“Also, the high share of unpaid work among women (household and care activities) limits educational and career opportunities. “Punishing” motherhood has a similar impact, which creates a significant disadvantage,” she added.

Split by industries, the biggest wage gaps in favor of men are in the banking sectors, at 30.5%, pharmaceutical - 16.5%, retail - 15.27%, and technology - 11.92%. A different situation is encountered in manufacturing and BPO/SSC, where the rate is inverse of -7.02% and -0.11%, respectively, PwC said.

At the same time, another PwC report - Workforce Hopes and Fears 2023, found a significant gap between the weight of requests for salary increases of men and women, of 21 percentage points, and respectively of promotions, of 8 percentage points.

The PayWell 2023 survey carried out by PwC Romania includes over 180 companies from 6 sectors of activity, with over 250,000 employees and 1,600 unique positions reported.

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