// Asos reveals its ethnicity pay gap alongside its gender pay data
// The retailer aims to double ethnic minority leadership within two years
For the first time, Asos has revealed ethnicity pay gap data, and it is believed to be the first major fashion retailer to do so.
The stats were disclosed with Asos’ gender pay data, which is not required by law, as the business strives to improve transparency and diversity.
The data revealed that median pay for ethnic minority employees at Asos is 5.9 per cent higher compared to their white counterparts, which is up 21.2per cent since last year.
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However, there were still big gaps between different ethnic groups. There was a negative median pay gap of 13.4% for Black/Black British employees, and 14.1% for mixed/multiple ethnic groups in comparison to their White counterparts.
However, there were still significant gaps between ethnic groupings.
Compared to their White counterparts, there was a negative median wage gap of 13.4 per cent for Black/Black British employees and 14.1 per cent for mixed/multiple ethnic groupings.
Asos reported: ”The single biggest driver of these gaps is underrepresentation of ethnic minority ASOSers at leadership level, alongside unequal representation of different ethnic minority groups across different functions.”
The retailer aims to double ethnic minority leadership within two years, targeting 15 per cent ethnic minority representation across its combined leadership by 2023.
Ethnic minority staff make up 19 per cent of the overall workforce but only 7 per cent of combined leadership roles.
Asos chief executive Nick Beighton said: “We’re publishing our ethnicity pay gap alongside our gender pay gap because we believe it’s a vital step towards understanding and improving ethnic minority representation within Asos and the wider industry.
”While we have made some significant improvements in some areas over the last 12 months, we know we still have a long way to go. We are using this data to help us lay the foundations of a truly inclusive culture and create a people experience that is like no other.
“It is our belief that our goals and progress should be made public in this way so we can be held accountable. We hope that other businesses commit to doing the same to encourage change across our industry.”
Asos’ report also revealed that its gender pay gap is 32.3 per cent, up from 30.6 per cent.
The retailer said that was partly ”a result of women being underrepresented in higher paid roles in leadership and in technology, combined with a high proportion of women in entry level roles in customer care and commercial teams”.
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