Global gender pay gap report 2024

A statement from our CEO

In 2024, we took an important step toward greater transparency by publishing our first UK gender pay gap report, meeting our statutory obligation. But as a global company, we aim to create a joined-up approach for all our team members, which requires more than compliance—it requires a worldwide approach.

That's why we committed last year to going further. This report marks the first time we've published gender pay gap data on a global scale. Meaningful change can only happen when we understand where we are at the point of reporting (4 April 2024), and acknowledge and start to address disparities everywhere we operate.

By analysing pay data across the countries where our team members operate, we've created a global snapshot, including the UK, which we share externally. However, our commitment to transparency goes even further. Internally, we have taken a deeper dive, providing detailed data for countries where our team sizes are large enough to maintain anonymity. The approach allows us to understand pay disparities better while safeguarding individual privacy.

This first global report establishes a crucial baseline for the future. In the years ahead, we will continue tracking trends, identifying key areas for improvement, and measuring the impact of our actions. As we mention in the UK report, we cannot solve disparities overnight. But, our commitment to driving lasting, global progress is unwavering. By embracing openness, accountability, and action, we're working to build an inclusive workplace—everywhere we operate.

Simon Haighton Williams, CEO, The Adaptavist Group

Understanding the gender pay gap

Our overview page contains more information about the gender pay gap globally, reporting requirements, equal pay, and important definitions for terms that we use in our reports.

Reporting, methodology, and timeframe

For our UK report, we have followed the methodology required by the UK government. However, due to the differences in the way payroll files are presented across the 20+ different legal entities through which we employ people globally, we have opted for a slightly different methodology for our global report.

To summarise, the difference between the UK government reporting methodology and the adopted global methodology comes down to who is included as 'full pay' employees. Those not on full pay are those on sick leave, parental leave, or any other type of 'special' leave that means they are not receiving their normal pay package.

Due to some reporting constrictions, it was not possible to provide this level of detail globally. The global methodology, therefore, assumes that everyone who is employed in the snapshot month is on full pay and will include a very negligible increase in headcount, but does not significantly change the overall narrative. For ease of comparison and consistency, we will still refer to the global pay gap statistics in GBP.

Base pay

We have taken the base salary of each employee under an employment contract with The Adaptavist Group at the snapshot date (4 April 2024) and converted it to full-time employment. This is in contrast to the UK methodology, which requires looking at exactly what each employee was paid on a particular pay run date, identifying 'full-pay employees' at that pay run date, and using the pay for only those employees.

Bonus pay

We use the same methodology as specified by the UK government, which looks at all types of bonus pay paid during the reporting period (FY24). Again, we look at data from all employees under an employment contract with The Adaptavist Group at the snapshot date (4 April 2024). This is equivalent to 'relevant employees' as defined in the UK methodology.

Global results

Employee data

On 4 April 2024, there were 1,027 employees that met the requirements to be included in the gender pay gap calculation.

40.4% of these employees were women.
59.6% of these employees were men.

Women

Men

Gender split of eligible global employees on 4 April 2024

Hourly pay gap

Average type	Women % lower than men
Mean	18.23%
Median	18.07%

When comparing median hourly pay, women earn 81.93p for every £1 earned by men. Looking at mean (average) hourly pay, women earn 18.23% less than men on average.

The percentage of women in each pay quarter

The quartiles represent our pay, which has been split into four equal bands from the lowest hourly pay (quartile 1) to the higher upper hourly pay (quartile 4). The pay quartiles divide our employees into four equal groups based on hourly pay, from the lowest (quartile 1) to the highest (quartile 4).

Women now hold 25.97% of the highest-paid roles, while women make up 47.45% of the lowest-paid roles in quartile 1.

Pay quartile	Percentage of women	Percentage of men
All employees	40.39%	59.61%
Lower	47.45%	52.55%
Lower middle	49.80%	50.20%
Upper middle	38.40%	61.60%
Upper	25.97%	74.03%

If the quartile percentages were more reflective of the total employee percentage of men and women (i.e. 40.4% women and 59.6% men), the gender pay gap would be reduced.

A stacked bar chart shows a visual representation of the percentages of men and women in each pay quartile across The Adaptavist Group globally.Ltd.

Pay quartiles across The Adaptavist Group globally

Bonus pay gap

Bonus pay gap by gender

Average type	Women % lower than men
Mean	26.89%
Median	17.46%

Percentage of employees receiving a bonus

Gender	Percentage
Men	74.14%
Women	71.57%

Women earn 82.5p for every £1 that men earn when comparing median bonus pay. Their median bonus pay is 17.46% lower than men's.

Why do we see some of these differences?

At the snapshot date, our global workforce had more men than women. While some departments have strong female representation, we must do more in areas like senior leadership, technical roles, and commission-based positions, as reflected in the bonus pay gap.

It is important to clarify that we do not pay people differently based on gender—it is illegal in some countries, such as the UK, to pay individuals differently for the same job. Instead, our pay gap reflects a higher proportion of men in higher-paid roles, more senior roles and in business areas with higher market wages. Our commitment to leadership and management training for women should improve this in the coming years, as will the continued improvement of our recruitment and pledge that all employees take unconscious bias training.

We are making progress, with some improvements visible in the UK data. We will continue to monitor data and look to drive action that supports positive change. However, there is still more to do—both internally and externally.

We pledge to continue our commitment to our education-focused charity partners, which each champion gender equity, and to continue working with global universities to offer internships and training programmes, expanding opportunities and broadening the candidate pool so that in the future, there is more diversity in all areas of business.

Gender disparity in sales and business development impacting bonus pay

Bonus data represented in this report includes both bonus and commission payments. We have a commission structure for our business development (sales) team. We have a discretionary bonus structure for all employees in place. Employees are generally only eligible for one of these schemes.

The data reflects a male-dominated business development (sales) team at the time. The imbalance in bonus pay is a result of the hourly pay gap, but it was further widened by the male-dominated business development team.

Summary

Publishing our gender pay gap report for our global employees is one of many steps towards addressing gender pay disparities across our organisation. While we have grown significantly since 2017, we recognise the importance of continuously reviewing our processes and identifying meaningful actions to drive progress.

Closing the pay gap will take time, but we remain committed to making lasting change for all our colleagues. As we move forward, we will continue to learn, adapt, and be transparent about our journey.