Gender gap widens in regard to marketers’ pay

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 | By Branwell Johnson

The figures come from the latest Marketing Week/Ball & Hoolahan Salary Survey and compare badly with 2001, when the difference between male and female marketing manager salaries was, on average, £4,500.

Among marketing directors, there was a £17,000 pay gap between men and women in 2009.

The pay gap has widened despite the apparently increasing proportion of women in marketing – 61% of respondents to the survey are female.

The economic climate of the past 18 months has, unsurprisingly, had a dampening effect on pay rises and head counts in marketing departments. Depending on job title, rises of between 2% and 3% were the norm, compared with an average rise of 8.7% in the 12 months preceding 2001.

The survey showed 41% of respondents said that their departments cut staff in 2009, although 24% reported an increase in head count.

Optimism is also at a premium, with marketing directors saying that they expect a 2.89% pay rise in the next 12 months, only a slight increase on the 2.77% they actually received in 2009.

The study is made up from a total of 1,724 online survey with marketing managers making up 38% and marketing directors 9% of the sample.