Virgin Media Ireland reports gender pay gap of 22%

Women employees of Virgin Media Ireland earn almost 22 per cent less on average than men who work for the telecoms and media company, according to its gender pay gap report for 2022.

Virgin’s mean gender pay gap on an hourly earnings basis stands at 21.6 per cent while its median gender pay gap is 22.7 per cent.

The company – which sells broadband, television and phone services and owns the broadcaster Virgin Media Television – also reported a 62.9 per cent mean bonus pay gap and a 47.4 per cent median bonus pay gap.

It said its gender pay gap was caused by factors including “representation imbalance” at senior levels and the traditional over-representation of men within engineering and technology-focused industries, and pledged to take steps to bring about a better balance.

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“External and societal factors” mean men are over-represented in its technical functions, which account for the largest number of jobs in the company, it said.

Men’s ‘tenure’

“Tenure of men in areas such as our large technical function contributes to higher salaries and therefore the gender pay gap,” the report states.

Women employees at Virgin Media Ireland account for just 34 per cent of the upper quartile and 29 per cent of the upper-middle quartile pay bands, but about 44 per cent of the lower-middle quartile and almost 60 per cent of the lower-quartile pay bands.

Virgin Media Ireland, which is led by chief executive Tony Hanway and owned by John Malone’s cable giant Liberty Global, said it took its commitment to equality and fairness seriously and was already “on the journey” to increasing the representation of women across its business.

‘Specialised tools’

“Our talent strategy focuses on providing unconscious bias training to our leaders, and we are using specialised tools to ensure our job specs are gender-impartial, as well as ensuring diversity in our hiring panels,” it said.

The company added that it had increased maternity and paternity leave provisions, launched toolkits for menopause support and implemented guidelines to support long-term hybrid and flexible working arrangements.

“We will take steps to nurture women into fields and roles traditionally over-represented by men, ensuring we offer a working environment where everyone can thrive and progress their careers,” it said.

The publication of its gender pay gap report follows the introduction of legislation last year requiring employers with 250 or more employees to publish details of how they pay men and how they pay women.

From 2024, the legislation will apply to organisations with more than 150 employees, while those with 50-plus employees will be obliged to report their gender pay gaps from 2025.