GCC businesses are not doing enough to close the gender pay gap

Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have made gender pay discrimination illegal. In the Emirates, the September 2020 Decree of Federal Law stipulated equal wages for women and men in the private sector and the labour law states that “female employees shall receive wages equal to that of males if they perform the same work or another of equal value.” In KSA, the 2021 gender pay gap  ranged between 39 and 48 percent  and the country is actively working towards a significant decrease to comply with its 2030 vision. With such progress and statistics, where is the problem?

Participation. Women’s labour rates in the Middle East are some of the lowest in the world at 24.6 percent according to McKinsey’s 2020 report. The World Bank’s 2021 data has it  at 19 percent, with the biggest gap in Qatar at 57 percent, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait at 47 percent, and Bahrain at 42 percent. To close gaps successfully and sustainably, private businesses in the Middle East need to look at why these rates are so low and what they can do now to reverse the disparity.

Leaving the workplace to care for family and children, along with the lingering aftermath of the COVID pandemic both have a place in reasoning why. More must be done to aid women into work following parental leave with support and incentives that leave both men and women confident in a fair work life balance that doesn’t render solely females as primary caregivers with no flexibility to re-enter the workforce or to progress within it.

Industry sectors where women are well represented suffered significantly during the pandemic with unpaid leave and layoffs – more than their male colleagues. Women’s employment declined by 4.1 percent between 2019 and 2020 in Arab states against the decline for men of just 1.8 percent according to a report by the International Labour Organization. Whilst government initiatives are providing favourable initiatives for opportunity, women are still five times less likely to be in employment than men.

So if this is the outlook, what can GCC businesses do practically and what should they? In my work educating and coaching individuals and corporations on work cultures, I find that leaders who successfully close the gap are the ones with a keen focus on the employee experience as a whole; Identifying and dismissing both barriers to employment and progress and toxic behaviours across all levels of the organisation through a sustained effort.

Adapting workplaces for women is vital. It is not the woman’s responsibility to adapt or accept lower pay due to her familial responsibilities. Appropriate maternity, and paternity leave is necessary and whilst strides have been made in the UAE, we still find that private organisations do not offer true support. Whilst corporate cultures of long hours, ‘hustle’ and presenteeism exist, women will want to stay away, or find that they see no place for themselves to progress through the ranks. Being a caregiver does not compromise a woman’s performance at work. This is a simple fact and must be accepted.

The market also needs to adapt better to rewards based on performance rather than simply years of service. Presenteeism and ‘time spent’ at work does not always equal quality and results. A more dynamic approach to promotions and other tangible validations are far more incentivising for productivity than the old-fashioned way of sitting still and waiting for the bonus. Closing a pay gap becomes much more of an attainable goal than a simple continuation of doing what has always been done. We do not live in ‘that’ world anymore.

Even worse, there is the risk that a decline in pay equity for women globally in 2022 could be replicated in 2023 due to the impact of adverse economic conditions and inflationary pressures.  Whilst toxic culture is an outlier in terms of the  gap between women and men, it creates a large toll on organisations and individuals

A key issue with gender inequality is small numbers beget small numbers, there is often a lack of female role models, so younger females don’t benefit from mentorship and guidance, often falling off the talent pipeline before they reach leadership.

A great example of this is informal systems. Assumptions that are made about what women may or may not want, results in women being blocked from networking, career progress or at best made to feel unwelcome. The ‘boys club’ is still prevalent across the Arab world – Budgets are often allocated to events such as golf tournaments or traditionally male-dominated pursuits or interests. Less so is the interest in investing in the female workforce.Greater cultural shifts will only come into play when business leaders realise the benefit of encouraging and nurturing women back into the workforce on a practical level and not just by paying lip service for the sake of PR or CSR.

With global and regional mandates coming to the forefront for gender equality, the middle east region is ramping up its efforts to set balance quotas. Statistically, more females in leadership means more profit for the business. Factually, companies that are gender diverse are 26 per cent more likely to outperform their competitors when it comes to profitability. Having more women leaders results in a multitude of benefits for an organisation – higher profitability, increased market share and notably, increased productivity and innovation, all resulting in a competitive advantage. This itself should be motivation enough for GCC businesses to create a true culture shift that works towards not only shortening the gender pay gap in the region but making a difference to their own bottom line too.