Goldman Sachs’ UK gender pay gap is getting worse as women get paid 54% less than male colleagues

Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs has revealed that the gender pay gap in its UK institutions widened in 2023, as the bank did not promote more women into top positions. The mean hourly pay difference between men and women at Goldman Sachs International (GSI), its main UK entity, rose to 54% in the last year, according to data submitted to the UK government.

When comparing median hourly pay in the company, women earn 72p for every £1 earnt by men. This is greater than the 53.2% in 2022 and a percentage that highlights the largest disparity since records began in 2017, when the average hourly pay gap was 55.6%.  At Goldman Sachs Asset Management International, their UK-based asset management branch, the gap widened to 54.1% from 51.3% the previous year. 

GSI did increase the number of women hired into their junior roles but it has struggled to move swiftly in promoting and retaining women in the highest paid jobs. In the data, women now occupy 64.6% of the lowest paid jobs at GSI but they hold less than a quarter of the highest paid positions at only 24.3%.

The figures reflect that more women are working in the lower-paid positions across the two Goldman entities, which when combined, account for around 4,000 of the Bank's 45,000 global staff.

Talking points sent to senior Goldman executives for discussions with employees and any clients who call, included acknowledgment from the bank that women are under-represented at more senior levels inside the bank, per the Financial times

In a statement on Thursday they said: “Importantly, this gender pay gap report does not account for pay in similar roles or tenure, but we know that we need to do more to increase representation of women at the senior-most levels of the firm.”

The UK pay gap numbers are based on statistics taken at the beginning of April each year and since 2017, publishing these figures has become a requirement for UK companies with 250 or more employees.