Apple pledges to do more to stand up for equal pay

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Apple has signed California's new Equal Pay Pledge.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has committed to carrying out an in-depth review of its gender pay divide, as part of California’s new Equal Pay Pledge.

It joins 12 other companies in California in doing so — including Airbnb, AT&T, Autodesk, Salesforce and Square. The initiative is led by California’s First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of Gov. Gavin Newsom. Apple has previously suggested that it has solved the gender pay gap within its own company.

“California has the strongest equal pay laws in the nation — but there is still more work to do,” said Jennifer Siebel Newsom in a statement.

The 13 “inaugural signatories” will carry out a review of their gender pay divide, along with their hiring and promotion practices. In the words of Newsom, this is in an attempt to “reduce unconscious bias and structural barriers and promote best practices that will close the pay gap to ensure fundamental equity for all workers.”

Promoting equal pay

Apple has long worked to ensure that it promotes equal pay. According to Apple, it reached this point back in 2016. In a report published that year, Apple observed that:

“We’ve achieved pay equity in the United States for similar roles and performance. Women earn one dollar for every dollar male employees earn. And underrepresented minorities earn one dollar for every dollar white employees earn.”

The subject of gender pay disparity has been highlighted across a number of industries. However, it is often closely scrutinized in the tech industry, which can skew overwhelmingly male. That is particularly the case in positions of authority. Tim Cook has said that tech has largely “missed” doing enough to break up the male-dominated culture in Silicon Valley.

On its own, signing up to the Equal Pay Pledge won’t change that overnight. But it does show that Apple is willing to use its position as a leader to speak out on this topic.

Via: CNBC

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