U.K. Gender Pay Gap Report

Publicis Sapient welcomes the opportunity to report our U.K. gender pay gap information in line with The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017. Under this new U.K. legislation, employers with more than 250 employees are required to publish their gender pay gap in relation to their U.K. employees.

At Publicis Sapient we believe embracing diversity is at the core of our culture and manifested in our Core Values. Teams representing diverse backgrounds, genders, experiences, disciplines and crafts etc. foster a sense of belonging that enables human potential, leading to more innovation and creativity which directly benefit our clients, our people and our organisation. In order to create meaningful change this requires all of us to lean in. We are extremely committed to building a great company that enables all our people, regardless of identity, to thrive and have been focused on this over the last few years. We also recognize that there needs to a continuous focus on DEI and fostering a culture that supports our purpose.   

The annual Gender Pay Gap Report is a valued opportunity to measure the progress of our ongoing commitment and focus on gender diversity at all levels. It also helps us to continually review where we need to make key shifts.

The gender pay gap is the difference in average pay between those who identify as male and those who identify as female across an organisation.  This is different from equal pay which is defined as “the right for men and women to be paid the same when doing the same, or equivalent, work” (Equality Act, 2010).

Publicis Sapient UK’s median gender pay gap for 2021 is 19.5%. Since 2018, our median (midpoint) gender pay gap has reduced by 5.1% and we have made some steady progress here. The mean (average) gender pay gap is 27.7%.  As we shared in our earlier communication, the UK overall median, as per the Office of National Statistics, is 15.5% across all sectors. The Professional Services, Consulting and Technology sectors (in which Publicis Sapient would sit) have a wider gap ranging from 19.7% to 36% depending on the type of business. Whilst our median gender pay gap falls within industry average and has shown a steady reduction in the gap, we recognise we must continue our efforts towards closing the gap.

Given below is a more detailed view of both the median and mean average pay and bonus gap and the % of representation by pay quartile bands, all calculated as per Government guidelines.

Like many other organisations, our gender pay and bonus pay gap is largely due to the lower representation of female leaders in senior roles. Within our bonus eligible population, the mean average bonus pay gap between our Managers to Directors is 17%, which has also reduced from last year by 19% (median gap is at 27%) This particular bonus gap is largely a result of underrepresentation of female talent in science and technology, which is an industry wide challenge. There have been several initiatives put in place to work towards bridging this gap and that has helped reduce the overall bonus gap on median by 8.8% (39.9% last year) and 21.1% reduction on overall mean bonus gap (78.7% last year).  

In terms of talent acquisition, we exceeded our aims in relation to encouraging gender diversity in recruitment talent pools by having women comprise 44.6% of all-level hires (in comparison to our aim of 39%). There has been some fantastic progress especially in our early careers. While we hired more than 36% women in senior manager + roles we do believe this is an area of constant focus as well as a challenge in the sector.

At Publicis Sapient our focus continues to be:

1. Strive for gender balance in leadership and the broader workforce

2. Ensure equity of opportunity through the provision of talent development, progression and network building opportunities

3. Develop Talent Acquisition practices that encourage gender diversity in applications

We will continue to appoint the best people for all our roles, but want to ensure we have removed any barriers which could discourage female candidates from applying or being successful.  Our 2021 female graduate intake for our Early Careers programme already stands at 58%. In addition to this we will continue to address equity of growth opportunities through formalised talent development programmes such as the Female Executive Sponsorship Programme, which was implemented in our Financial Services industry team and in the new cohort of our Next Generation Leadership Team. The Next Generation Leadership Team provides high-potential talent with leadership exposure and experiences to prepare them for future leadership roles within our organisation. In 2022 we have also launched a new program called RISE which is a holistic global women’s development program.

Along with the rest of Publicis Groupe UK, we introduced a set of new family friendly policies from September 1st 2021; including increasing pregnancy/maternity, adoption, surrogacy and shared parental leave to 26 weeks full pay and paternity/second parent leave to four weeks full pay and a phased return to work during the first month back (on full pay).

Finally, we will continue to seek the support of all UK colleagues in creating an inclusive environment that helps us achieve our gender diversity goals faster and to enable everyone at Publicis Sapient the opportunity to thrive through learning, driving accountability for change and building practices that create equity.

Scott Criddle

Managing Director, U.K., Publicis Sapient