In 2015, we were one of the first companies to evaluate whether there were any gaps in pay among our global workforce. Such a simple idea — equal pay for equal work. At the time, it was pretty progressive, but since then more companies have joined us in committing to equal pay.
We’re glad to see the progress we’ve made as an industry but, as we know, there is no finish line when it comes to equality. Equal pay should be table stakes and as expected as an earnings call or an annual report, which is why we’ve incorporated it directly into our annual compensation process.
Early on in our equal pay journey, we learned that you cannot fix it once and move on. Many factors contribute to pay inequality. When you acquire companies you also acquire their pay scales. Market dynamics, like higher inflationary times and competition for talent, can affect it too. So that’s why we audit for equal pay every year and adjust as needed.
Today, we’ve completed our latest fiscal year compensation review, and with it our seventh equal pay assessment of nearly 70,000 global employees at the time of the audit — including Slack, our company’s largest acquisition that closed last year.
Our analysis found 8.5% of our global employees required adjustments. Of those, 92% were based on gender globally, and 8% were based on race or ethnicity in the U.S. As a result, we spent $5.6 million to address any unexplained differences in pay, a total of more than $22 million spent since 2015.
We continue to incorporate stock grants into our analysis to have a more complete picture of employee compensation. We started last year and continued this year by looking at eligibility, which we did not find had any discrepancies among gender or race.
We’re proud of the progress we’ve made and our enduring commitment to equal pay, and we know that equal pay is only one component of pay fairness.
We’re also continuously evaluating our processes to increase the scope of our analysis — adding stock and new demographics over the years — while also focusing on our broader programs, policies, and benefits that will continue to help our employees succeed.
We’ve been on our equal pay journey for the better part of a decade, but we’re nowhere near the finish line. We’ll continue to prioritize equal pay and advocate for pay fairness. Today, we’re proud to join the World Economic Forum’s Gender Parity Alliance as a founding member to accelerate these efforts industrywide.
To read more about our equality efforts, please visit Equality.com or read our most recent Equality update.
