Bayer has just published its UK Gender Pay Gap report for 2019 and the results show that workplace equality has moved closer.

As a UK comany which employs more than 250, Bayer must report on its gender pay gap, however this year it has opted to go beyond the statutory requirements, also reporting top-line data for its other UK and Ireland companies: Bayer Crop Science and Bayer Ireland.

The results show more improvements, and key amongst them is that the gender pay gap for Bayer UK has narrowed and is ahead of the UK-wide figures across all industries. The pay median – or typical salary – has improved on average year on year and is ahead of the improvement seen nationally.

The report reveals that 59 per cent of the workforce at Bayer are now women and 40 per cent of the UK leadership team are women. The number of female graduates at Bayer is 75 per cent, and 52 per cent of promotions go to women.

Bayer is continuing to look for ways of driving further gender parity, so it will be launching business resource groups throughout the company, aimed at harnessing untapped potential of not just women, but those in the disability and LGBT groups.

Commenting on the report, Bayer UK CEO, Lars Bruening, said: “These are encouraging results., Whilst there is still more to be done to deliver gender parity, Bayer has made progress in 2019 and I hope that we can continue this work in 2020 and beyond.”

“Creating a more gender balanced workforce, is part of our integrated approach to building a culture of inclusion and diversity, which can only improve the strength and resilience of the organisation”.

In 2019, Bayer increased its focus on all aspects of inclusion and diversity. Additional management and leadership training was carried out; there were employee focus groups; sponsorship of Pride parades in Reading, Dublin and Cambridge (where Bayer has offices), and in Reading, Bayer continued to introduce young people of all diversity and ethnicity to science, via classes at its science lab – Baylab.

As part of its commitment to increased parity across the board, Bayer also asked colleagues for the first time to self report their ethnicity and disability, and plans to include pay gap date for these key areas in future.

Lars Bruening added: “We will continue to identify and introduce smarter ways to attract, retain and develop female employees. And we will continue the focus on all inclusion and diversity issues so that we make a Bayer career rich and rewarding in every way for each employee, male or female.”