ZS UK Gender Pay Gap Report 2022



Our people are our most valuable asset. It is our responsibility and privilege to invest in their long-term success. We thoughtfully grow our talent pipeline to better reflect the communities and stakeholders we serve and evolve our offerings to support our global team. 

Under legislation that came into force in April 2017, UK employers with more than 250 employees are required to publish their gender pay gaps. Our UK Gender Pay Report is based on information as of the snapshot date of 5 April 2022. This is the first time we have crossed the 250-employee threshold, and our first time providing a UK Gender Pay Report.

 

In the below you will see an overall pay gap for ZS in the UK between men and women, as reported in the UK 2022 Gender Pay Gap disclosure. You can read more to learn how ZS ensures our employees receive pay equity and is working toward greater representation to close the gender pay gap reported.

Understanding Pay Equity vs Pay Gap



Closing the overall gender pay gap is different than ensuring equal pay for equal work. It involves the challenge of ensuring men and women are represented at all levels throughout the organisation, particularly in leadership roles which tend to carry higher market rates of pay.

 

This UK pay gap analysis confirms to us that we have an opportunity to improve representation of women at our firm. Equal pay is engrained in our values, and we are getting it right by addressing our existing representation gap – a core driver of ZS’s pay gap – and improving hiring, promotion and retention efforts throughout ZS. The gender pay gap we see today is on par with what we see in the UK and professional services broadly.

 

Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is a key objective, and we take steps to review and ensure our employees receive equal pay for equal work. Our compensation programs and practices are designed to attract associates, motivate and reward performance, drive growth and retention, and cultivate an inclusive culture with equal employment opportunities for ZSers. 

Understanding Our Gap



 Mean pay gap  23.1% 
 Median pay gap    16.3% 
 Mean bonus gap   88.3% 
 Median bonus gap   29.2%

Our UK offices (as of April 5, 2022) comprised of 44% women in all roles and levels. However, the pay gap above reflects the diversity of representation across all roles and levels. Our consulting team, skews 60% men, while internal enterprise roles skew 69% women. The roles apply different salary levels and align to different compensation benchmarks. As we continue increasing the number of women across the organisation in more leadership and consulting roles, the gender pay gap averaged across all roles and levels will close. 

 Proportion of men receiving bonus     89.6% 
 Proportion of women receiving bonus     86.8%

Bonus eligibility across men and women at ZS is equal. The differences (89.6% vs 86.8%) are due to eligibility (based on start date), and transfers into the UK which were proportionately higher for women and excluded from this data (given transfer bonuses were paid in a different currency). Given bonus is a greater portion of total compensation at senior levels and we have a smaller proportion of women in those roles, this impact is seen in our mean and median bonus gap as well.

 Pay quartiles  % Men   % Women 
 Upper quartile  65.3%  34.7%
 Upper middle quartile   65.3%  34.7%
 Lower middle quartile   51.4%  48.6%
 Lower quartile  40.3%  59.7%

The highest quartiles (e.g., upper quartile) tend to reflect all of our UK principal level employees, the highest leadership level, who consist primarily of men (83%), in comparison to overall UK representation of 56%. Again, as we continue increasing women’s representation across the organisation, the gender pay gap reflected in this UK gender pay gap analysis will close. 

Closing the Gap



ZS conducts a formal bi-annual pay equity and compensation review every year that considers several factors, including roles, locations, levels and more to determine equal pay for equal work. While ZS has achieved and maintained gender pay equity across ZS, the UK pay gap analysis underlines our continued need to have greater representation of women in more senior and technical level roles throughout the firm.

 

We have several targeted initiatives underway to attract, motivate and reward performance, drive growth, support retention, and cultivate an inclusive culture with equal employment opportunities, including:

  • Pipeline development – Recruiting and leadership programming designed for all ZSers, along with equity programming to increase representation of historically underrepresented employees
  • Bias mitigation – Annual schedule of process reviews that review our processes for best practices, objectivity, adherence, and bias mitigation; required training to reduce effects of personal bias based on specific strategies of behavior and adherence
  • Inclusive benefits – Flexible work, generous health, family, and vacation leave, wellness coverage, perks, and inclusive workplace facilities

These and many other efforts will help close the representation gap across levels and with it the pay gap at ZS across all roles for all ZSers.

 

Declaration

 

I confirm that the data reported by ZS is accurate.

Signed:

Thiagi Suryanarayanan

Chief Human Resources Officer

About ZS



ZS is a management consulting and technology firm focused on transforming global healthcare and beyond. We leverage our leading-edge analytics, plus the power of data, science and products, to help our clients make more intelligent decisions, deliver innovative solutions and improve outcomes for all. Founded in 1983, ZS has more than 12,000 employees in 35 offices worldwide.