Audit, tax and advisory services firm KPMG has published its 2022 socio-economic background pay gap for the first time, with its mean professional versus lower socio-economic background pay gap at -3.2%, up from -1.1% in 2021.
The firm’s median professional versus lower socio-economic background pay gap was 7.3%, down from 8.6% in 2021. Its mean intermediate versus lower socio-economic background pay gap was -4.7%, compared with -4.5% the prior year, and its median gap was 1.7%, down from 6.6%.
KPMG’s mean gender pay gap was 32.1%, down from 37% in 2021, and its median gender pay gap was 20.9%, down from 23.5%. Its mean bonus pay gap was 40.5%, down from 1.4% and its median gap was 37.7%, up from 24.6%. A total of 72.3% women and 67.7% men received a bonus in 2022.
Its 2022 mean ethnicity pay gap was 32.6% in favour of white employees, down from 35.4% in 2021, and its median was 17.7%, compared with 10.2% the previous year. Its mean bonus pay gap was 34.4%, down from 41.4%, and its median gap was 35.2%, up from 32.3%. A total of 69.2% of ethnic minority and 80.5% of white staff received a bonus last year.
Meanwhile, KPMG’s 2022 mean sexual orientation pay gap was 10.4%, down 0.8 percentage points compared with 2021, and its median gap was 11.8%, up 7.2 percentage points. Its mean disability pay gap was 13.5%, up from 8.6% the prior year, and its median gap was 9.7%, up 1.1 percentage points.
The firm’s mean black heritage pay gap last year was 35%, up from 33.7% the previous year, and its median gap was 14.8%, up from 9.1%.
Jon Holt, chief executive of KPMG in the UK, said: “As a firm, we’ve long been committed to creating an inclusive culture, where everyone has an equal chance to thrive. Harnessing our differences delivers better outcomes for our clients, our communities and our people. It’s fundamental to building a sustainable, growing business.
We renewed our commitment to this vision last year, with the launch of our new inclusion, diversity and equity long-term strategy and targets to 2030.
“While we have robust controls to ensure fairness in pay decisions within our grades, our pay gaps are driven by the strong diversity of colleagues in junior roles. This is outweighing the improvements we’re seeing at senior levels and impacts where the median sits. For instance, when establishing the median pay gap point for gender, the median woman is a lower grade than the median man due to higher female representation in junior roles. This generates a pay gap, as we’re comparing employees at different pay grades.
“Greater representation at any level is a positive change, but we need to ensure that this is replicated across all levels of our business.
“Changing the grade mix will take time, but we have a strong pipeline of talent that we are committed to supporting. Several firmwide and capability-specific programmes are in place to identify people from historically-underrepresented groups and help support them to reach their full potential, such as our Black heritage Talent Programme…There’s still a long way to go, but we know this work is already having impact. “