Entain cuts gender pay gap to 5.3% in 2021

While the gap in median salaries was 5.3%, the mean hourly pay gap was much more significant, at 16.2%, which was up from 15.0% in 2020.

This was mostly due to lower representation of women in roles that made up the upper quartile of salaries at Entain. While the majority of Entain staff in the lower quartile and two middle quartiles of pay are women, only 39.1% from the upper quartile were women in 2021. That figure was down slightly from 2020.

Meanwhile, the median bonus pay gap skyrocketed in 2021 from 13.0% to 59.6%, which it said was due to the fact that many bonuses were deferred in 2020, and so paid twice in 2021.

The mean bonus gender pay gap was even higher, at 63.4%, compared to 19.2% in 2020.

In total, 69.6% of men and 62.8% of women at Entain received a bonus in 2021, up from 40.9% of men and 40.0% of women in 2020.

2021 was the year in which Jette Nygaard-Andersen became chief executive of Entain, making her the first female CEO of a UK-listed betting operator.

“At Entain our vision is to create a ‘best place to work’ where our colleagues feel valued, respected and engaged and to ensure that this is reflected in the way they are rewarded,” she said. “We are pleased to report that our median hourly pay gap has reduced to 5.3% from 7.1% – substantially lower than the national average of 15.4%. This reflects the gender parity in our retail business where 54% of our colleagues are female.”

Nygaard-Andersen pointed to Entain initiatives such as Entrain – a diversity and technology programme that launched in November 2021 – as part of the steps the business was taking to continue to support women.

“While we are encouraged by this, we take nothing for granted and have put in place programmes and policies such as EnTrain and Women@Entain which will help us continue on this journey,” she said. “This approach to diversity, equity and inclusion is vital to our purpose of revolutionising betting and gaming interactive entertainment.”