The Walt Disney Company vowed to provide more salary data within 18 months after releasing statistics on employee pay by race and gender on Friday for the first time.
When base pay is adjusted for positions, experience, and location, women are paid nearly identically to men, while Asian, Black, and Hispanic workers are all paid nearly identically to White workers, citing the statistics Disney supplied.
Women and people of color typically hold lower-paying positions than males and White workers since median pay, which the corporation will report later, is not adjusted for those variables.
In most jurisdictions and under federal law, pay disclosure is still not required. Companies must disclose the median wage by gender in the UK. According to Disney’s records, women there make around 86% of what their male colleagues do.
Disney is stepping into an elite group that are showing leadership on pay equity, said Natasha Lamb, a managing partner at Arjuna Capital, which has been pressuring the company to make the disclosures.
As shareholder pressure grows, more than a dozen major US corporations, including Disney, situated in Burbank, California, have either previously released or have pledged to disclose additional information regarding median employee compensation.
Disney is committed to fostering a truly inclusive and equitable culture, a company spokesman said in an emailed statement. We recognize the importance of pay transparency and are committed to ensuring our employees and cast members have even more meaningful insights into their pay.
In March, over 60% of shareholders supported a proposal from Arjuna requesting Disney to reveal details regarding remuneration. In 2023, according to Disney, adjusted compensation data will include information on bonuses and long-term incentives.
The biggest entertainment company in the world operates everything from TV studios to theme parks all around the globe. About 190,000 people worked for Disney at the end of its most recent fiscal year.
According to data from the US Census, the median wage disparity between men and women has been stagnant at roughly 83% for more than ten years.
