Female representation and pay on the rise in Australian media agencies
Women make up the majority of media agency personnel in Australia, according to a new industry census.
The average female full-time salary also increased by 1% compared to their male counterparts.
The Media Federation of Australia (MFA) 2019 Industry Census, which covers all media agencies, found that 60% of media agency personnel were women.
Those who hold leadership position increased by 37%, which is higher than the average in the Australian workplace that stands at 30.5%.
The average female full-time salary also increased by 1% compared to their male counterparts, which shows pay parity between women and men.
"We’re happy to see the industry tracking so well, particularly at a time of rapid change and increased business pressures," said Peter Horgan, the chief executive of Omnicom Media Group and chair of the MFA.
"The Census also shows that a talent shortage remains in key positions such as implementation, client services, digital and programmatic roles, but I am confident we can work together to address this issue through the continued implementation of training and development programs -- in addition to the recent introduction of the Advertising Industry Labour Agreement.”
In the UK, WPP has reported that it's median pay-gap stood at 14.9% (up from 14.6% last year) while the mean gap was 23.7% (down from 25.5%).
Its creative agencies, which had the worst pay-gap figures in 2017, noted improvements in 2018. JWT reduced its median gap by 6.4% while AKQA and Ogilvy reduced its by 8.9% and 2.7% respectively.
Grey increased its median pay-gap by 6.7% and saw the average hourly rate between men and women’s pay also increase by 6.9%.
Dentsu Aegis Network has joined WPP in reporting a widening gender pay gap across the business for 2018. It has seen its overall median pay gap rise to 17.6% over the past 12 months, against 2017's 14.1% gap.