Amazon reveals details of its gender pay gap

Amazon.com has revealed that its female staff earn as much as their male counterparts. This was according to a recent survey conducted by the online retailer.

According to Fortune, this disclosure comes as companies in the United States face criticism on the issue of pay equity, especially in the male-dominated technology sector.

"The Seattle-based online retailer disclosed the results of its study after pressure from Arjuna Capital, the activist arm of investment firm Baldwin Brothers, which has been pushing it to report the difference between men’s and women’s pay and the company’s plans to close any gap," Fortune wrote.

Estimating that women make up 39% of its global workforce and 24% of managers as of July 2015, Amazon said its review of compensation (including base pay and stock compensation) found that women earned 99.9 cents for every dollar that men earned in the same jobs.

This survey was conducted by an external labour economist which covered Amazon workers at every level of the organisation in the U.S.

“There will naturally be slight fluctuations from year to year, but at Amazon we are committed to keeping compensation fair and equitable,” Amazon said in a statement.

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Additionally, the study found that minorities earned 100.1 cents for every dollar that white employees earned in the same jobs.

“I am pleased to see that they are reaching out and putting out a public statement on gender pay,” said Natasha Lamb, director of shareholder engagement at Arjuna. “I hope this means they will be more responsive to investor concerns in the future.”

"The U.S. securities regulator said last week Amazon should allow shareholders to vote on a proposal on gender pay equality put forward by Arjuna, after the company had sought permission to omit the proposal from its proxy statement," Fortune wrote.

Lamb said she had not spoken to Amazon since January and declined to comment on whether it would withdraw its proposal.

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