Equal pay for women in IT is 63 years away

The IT sector is still more than six decades away from reaching gender pay parity, according to a report from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

Salaries for women in the industry increased by 2.1 % over the past 12 months, compared to 1.4 % for men. However, the average wage for male managers was £17,736 more than that of their female counterparts, the CMI said.

The research found IT was the least equal sector, with the gap narrowest in engineering companies at £2,433.

Even at junior level, male executives in IT on average received £1,119 more than female executives.

Petra Wilton, director of policy and research at the CMI, said, "The prospect of continued decades of pay inequality cannot be allowed to become reality. We want to see government take greater steps to enforce pay equality by monitoring organisations more closely and naming and shaming those who fail to pay male and female staff fairly.

"It is not just government that needs to act. Competitive businesses need to attract diverse workforces and appeal to the most talented employees."

More than half of Britain's top headhunters recently said that if women wanted to reach the highest level in their careers they should forgo taking time out to look after children.