Ryan FowlerVirgin Media O2 has released its pay gap figures for 2023, highlighting disparities in both ethnicity and gender. The company reported a 9.7% mean ethnicity hourly pay gap, with the median gap at 13.3%. The ethnicity bonus gap stood at 41.3% (mean) and 39.4% (median), indicating a significant difference in bonus earnings between white employees and those from a global majority background, despite a higher percentage of the latter receiving bonuses.
In terms of gender, Virgin Media O2’s mean hourly pay gap was 1.9%, and the median gap was 2.3%, showing a small but present disparity. The gender bonus gap was more pronounced, with a mean gap of 12.5% and a median of 11.9%. Bonus receipt rates also varied between men and women.
Philipp Wohland, chief people and transformation officer, commented on the company’s efforts to address these disparities: “At the heart of our mission lies our people plan and its four pillars of belonging, clarity, development and recognition, which also align closely with our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). We want to implement initiatives that foster belonging, provide career clarity, develop skills, and ensure fair recognition, which are also strongly tied to how we reward and compensate our employees.
“Since our merger, we’ve been dedicated to fostering a culture of DEI. In March 2022, we launched our five-year DEI strategy with ambitious goals to reflect the communities we serve. These goals include improving representation across gender and ethnicity by the end of 2027. So while this shows some progress, it also tells us there is still much for us to do by the time this report comes around again in 12 months’ time and into the future. We believe everyone deserves to feel valued, respected and empowered to enable them to thrive.”
