The Pay Gap

The pay gap in the entertainment industry has been a big deal in the media. There’s so much going on, from BBC announcing their employees wages to lead actors having a HUGE difference in pay. Now, can I honestly say I care about these public figures who are getting paid above and beyong… not really. But I do care about equal pay for all. Seeing these big shiny names in the media makes us all talk about it. However, some of the stories and opinions coming out in interviews are not looking at the entire picture. There’s so much going on, so lets start with the BBC top earners list.

So back in July, the BBC shared a list of the highest earning talent – TALENT, not executives, not directors, just talent. So there’s the first thing that annoys me, why can’t they share what the bosses are earning and see how many of those are men and women?

Then the second thing that annoyed me is that it’s not an accurate list, this is a list of employed stars, which doesn’t include those that ‘freelance’. By that I mean, do we really think that the likes of Matt Le Blanc who currently hosts the BBC show Top Gear is getting paid less that £150k? … really? So it’s not a fair representation of people who work at the BBC which includes my first point, although I know it’s targeted at talent, it should really be anyone earning more than £150k at the BBC.

Then the third and last thing that annoyed me in regards to the BBC pay gap, experience and commitment (or hours worked). This hasn’t been taken into account by those discussing/reporting they just focus on gender. These people at the top of the list earning £500k+, yes male, but actually are all over the age of 50 and have been in the entertainment business for at least 25 years. They’ve worked hard, moved up the ladder and at times have had more than one show at one time. When you get to Matt Baker who’s earning just under £500k, compared to his co-host Alex Jones earning between £400-£450k. Yes he’s male earning more than his colleague, but he’s doing two BBC shows – The One Show and also Countryfile. So why wouldn’t he be paid more?

When you look at the entertainment world, I can’t help but blame agents. Why aren’t they asking for more, especially when they have two people on the same project under the same management. Surely they of all people can see the pay gap between men and women and should do more to fight for their female clients.

Moving on. When it comes to the normal world pay gap, I am thankful that personally I’ve never come across it. Paying people an amount for their work is decided on their experience and knowledge, amongst other things. In the companies I’ve worked for and my own company, I’ve never known someone be paid more because of them having a penis. Honestly, It was total news to me when this broke in the media. So I got digging around, none of my friends, family or colleagues have come across this either. Recently on International Women’s Day, there was a show on Sky News presented by Kay Burley with an audience of women and she had a panel of women who are at the top of their game in their line of work (#100Women). Now, I’ll put aside my personal opinion of Kay Burley on this one. Out of the panel, consisting of women, British Army Lieutenant Colonel Lucy Giles, MP Rupa Huq, London Fire Brigade commissioner Dany Cotton said that in their line of work, there is no pay gap. So it looks like government work is thankfully gender equal pay.

But actress Michelle Collins and businesswoman Kate Hardcastle can recall being dismissed when pointing out that male colleagues were earning more. Kate said “Employers themselves need to be far more responsible,” she said, arguing that women were likely to undervalue their skills while men overestimate their abilities. < This! This is where I personally think the pay gap comes from. I have worked with men who overvalue themselves and women who don’t have the confidence to ask for more or value the work they’re doing.

The best example I can give that happened most recently:

We were looking for some freelance content writers to contribute blogs for our website. I put it out there on LinkedIn, low and behold the comments starting come through and there were 3 women and 3 men. I emailed each of them asking for examples of their work and their rate. To my astonishment, all 3 men priced themselves between £90-£250 PER BLOG POST. Just to put it into context, the blog posts were to be around 300-500 words so nothing major. the 3 women priced themselves between £20-£45! I put the numbers to one side and read through their work and guess what the two men who had quoted £250 and £175 (per post) were awful. Their content lacked.

It’s not just content writers, one of my female clients who started her own business last year after leaving the NHS doubts herself too. She shouldn’t, she’s amazing! The testimonials she receives from clients can make you cry, she really makes a difference in peoples lives. However, she was afraid that by increasing her hourly rate, it would put people off. Although her male competitors were sometimes charging twice than she was. But we advised her that she should go for it and guess what, she had a waiting list and has had to turn business away.

We need to start valuing ourselves and putting our prices up! Rosie our Digital Marketing Manager once said “Go into an interview like a man”, be confident, show them what you’re capable of and make sure you’re getting paid what you deserve.

Peace Out x