15 October 2019 | News/Stories

Gender pay gap still exists in the Philippines—study

The Philippines is the only ASEAN country to make it to the top ten of the Global Gender Gap Index 2018—placing 8th. Despite the positive efforts to close gaps in the country’s economic, education, health and political sectors; and the obvious appetite for gender equality, it is remarkable that a study by Jobstreet—an online recruitment portal–found that a gender pay gap persists.

Data collected from 6,971 skilled workers shows that on average, male employees in the Philippines earn ₱ 5,000 or AU$143 more than their female counterparts.

In a September 2019 episode of ABS-CBN’s NXT, host Niña Corpuz led a discussion on the causes and effects of gender pay gap with Professor Dynah Basuil, Executive Director of the Ramon V. del Rosario Center for Corporate Social Responsibility at the Asian Institute of Management; Jobstreet Country Manager Philip Gioca; and Catherine Uy, COO of Buskowitz Group.

According to Professor Basuil, there is no disparity in the educational opportunities available to Filipino women and men. Neither is there a significant difference between the number of men and women hired for entry-level jobs.

Data on those employed in supervisory and senior management levels, however, tells a different story: men earn bigger salaries as they gain more work experience, compared to women in the same job and on the same level.

Jobstreet Country Manager Philip Gioca acknowledged Basuil’s claim, saying, “A greater number of corporates still have a lot of men in the top echelons of the corporations.”

However, Uy, who operates a solar company, was pleased to inform the rest of the panel that Buskowitz Group is unlike other Filipino corporations. “In our organisation, it’s actually the reverse. Most women are in management positions. But we do acknowledge that a gender pay gap exists. It’s just a wonderful coincidence that it doesn’t exist in our organisation,” she said.

In closing, Professor Basuil cited Investing in Women’s and the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment’s efforts to close the gender pay gap and achieve workplace gender equality. Such efforts include providing tools that companies can use to help eliminate the gap.

“I encourage us to keep talking about it, and not to let up on the work until hopefully, we can get that reputation we truly deserve as being a gender-balanced society,” said Basuil.

Listen to the rest of the discussion by watching the video:

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