Job interview/ShutterStock
In the current fast-paced technological era, the discourse on gender equality at work rises to the agenda for morning news, when on the one hand there is a great effort to promote equal opportunity for women in the industry, but on the other hand the gap is so entrenched that the road to true equality is still long.
Recently, with the closure of the Committee for the Advancement of Women in the Knesset, it seems that it has been extended even further.
Alongside the application of diversity and inclusion policies in organizations, the low percentage of female managers and the wage gap between men and women performing the same positions remain an unspoken issue.
We sat down with senior women in the high-tech industry to talk about everything.
Maya Schwartz/Rev
"It's no secret that there are gender wage gaps. Despite the trend of narrowing the gender wage gap in Israel in recent decades, women's monthly wages are still on average lower than men's wages, both monthly and hourly," says
Maya Schwartz, CEO of the Israel Hi-Tech Association
Schwartz works a lot to promote women in high-tech and volunteers in various social organizations. Among other things, she leads the Women's CEO Summit, which deals with the promotion of women in the industry.
Ahead of International Women's Day, the AllJobs research department reveals about the wage gap between men and women in Israel in 2024.
According to the study, women in Israel earn on average 34% less than men, a figure that places Israel in second place among the OECD countries with the highest gap.
According to the survey, this gap exists in all employment sectors, and is particularly noticeable in areas such as high-tech, finance and insurance.
There is also a gap between the center and the periphery, which is about NIS 2,000 on average.
The average wage gap is 34%!
How do you explain that?
"There are unconscious biases that cause these gaps," Maya adds.
"Women underestimate their abilities and ask for less money. Many times this is due to their choice to balance family life and their parental presence: from the mere knowledge that they will have to leave early sometimes, or will have to be absent when the child is sick, even if there is equality at home with the partner, the woman will ask Less pay."
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Rotem Peled/Servelo
Rotem Peled, Head of HR at Cervello,
adds that, "There are several reasons for the pay gap. Some of them stem from a lack of confidence and a feeling of discomfort that accompanies women when they are required to discuss the issue. They may feel that the environment perceives them differently from men, perhaps because they become pregnant and raising children. As women, and in particular women engaged in a field that has an impact on the wage conditions of employees, we have an obligation to look at the overall picture and minimize the phenomenon in our organizations."
Mein Cohen-Haziz, Director of Sight Israel and Vice President of Global Human Resources at CyberProof
sees the significant gap between women and men manifested when they negotiate their terms. we are equal
When it comes to asking for a raise, female workers have a tendency to hide behind the tools.
Even with female interviewees and potential employees, I encounter a lot of over-flexibility in negotiations and asking for a salary that is lower than expected and sometimes even lower than what is accepted in the market. Of course there are exceptions and there are women who asked and left for a higher salary."
As those who have a say in the matter, what are you doing to reduce the wage gap between men and women?
Einat Lam-Birch./Imperva
Einat Lahm-Livant, Vice President of Human Resources at Imperva
: "At Imperva we conduct proactive salary correction processes 'gender equity pay'.
These processes are integrated and are reflected in internal mobility processes, transitions between positions and between countries and through the promotions of our employees.
We conduct proactive inspection processes aimed at preventing wage disparities between women and men who are in the same position and at the same rank.
We attach great importance to the issue, starting from the recruitment phase, approving the budget for the position to full transparency of the salary ranges with the hiring managers, as well as training managers and human resources on the subject." Mein
Cohen-Haziz: "Part of my job is responsibility for the absorption of employees and workers in the company, and I am proud that there is no We have pay gaps between female and male analysts, male and female programmers.
What matters is the abilities and experience.
Even women who are promoted to management positions are paid commensurate with their experience and professionalism."
Transparency as the ultimate solution?
Mein Cohen Haziz/Aviv Neve
Maya Schwartz: "When the number of female managers is still significantly lower compared to the number of managers and with a small percentage of female entrepreneurs; when only a third of those employed in high-tech are women and only half of them are in technological professions, there is no doubt that we are in a man's world. All this at the same time as legislation that falters. In 2020 the Knesset enacted A law requiring private companies employing over 518 employees to publish an annual report on the gender pay gap in the organization.
That is, smaller startups will not be required to disclose the data.
In addition, the law did not establish sanctions for organizations that do not publish the information, so the incentive for companies to share the information is limited.
The solution, in my opinion, is through giving promotions according to metrics based on goals and output, or through gender equality in the number of female managers and senior positions in the organization.
This way we can enable the positioning of women at the top of the organization, and emphasize the fact that the organization perceives women and men as equals.
As a result, women will feel confident in demanding the same salary as their male counterparts.
In addition, creating an organizational culture that encourages open dialogue between managers and employees and with the human resources department, will help reduce feelings of discomfort and allow women to open the issue of wages within defined frameworks and with the belief that there is a desire to hear them."
Rotem Peled: "We cannot rely on the law And you need to start making the repairs and adjustments today.
On the part of the employer, companies should understand that closing the wage gap is the right and moral thing to do - and from a business point of view.
On the part of the women, the time has come for us to ask for ourselves, without fear, with the clear knowledge that each one deserves a reward for her skills, the time she dedicates to work and the experience she brings with her."
Mein Cohen-Haziz: "In Israel there is still no absolute transparency, like in the USA , where you can see the salary in the job posting, which allows women to understand what the standard salary is and the employer does not allow discrimination. In Israel, we are deep in the game of negotiations, and this allows employers to maintain ambiguity regarding the salary. Women should come with more Confidence at the negotiating table and not to be afraid to ask."
In conclusion,
In recent years, the concept that places gender diversity high in the value scale of companies has been strengthened.
Therefore, gender diversity has significant implications for the value of companies and the bottom line.
The issue is gaining momentum especially in light of the fact that among investors in the world's capital markets, gender diversity is seen not only as a moral value, but also as an economic value.
However, the disparities around the salary issue are still evident.
The argument that everything starts and ends with the self-confidence of job interviewees may explain part of the story, but ignores the fact that, despite the good will, gender discrimination, a toxic male culture towards women, and inequality in the opportunities offered to women still exist in organizations.
Otherwise, we probably wouldn't bother talking about it.
More on the same topic:
Wage differentials
gender
Human Resources
The status of women
International Women's Day