Ethnicity pay gap report

What is an ethnicity pay gap?

The ethnicity pay gap, not to be confused with the issue of equal pay, shows the difference in the average hourly rate of pay between Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and non-BAME employees in an organisation, expressed as a percentage of average non-BAME earnings. This is calculated using the same calculation methodology as for gender pay gap reporting.

As with our gender pay gap reporting, our narrative report also includes two important voluntary calculations: an equity partner earnings gap, and a total earnings gap which reflects the earnings of both employees and equity partners.

What are we doing to close the gap?

Our ethnicity pay gap is primarily driven by us having lower ethnic minority representation at senior grades. In June 2019, just over 10% of those promoted to partner were from an ethnic minority, demonstrating positive progress. While BAME people made up 25% of Deloitte’s overall workforce in April 2019, only 6% of partners and 11% of directors (the grades attracting the highest levels of remuneration) are from an ethnic minority.

In 2017 Deloitte published a target that, by 2021, 10% of its partners would be from an ethnic minority, in line with the Parker Review. Since then we have had a dedicated ethnicity action plan to achieve this and to address the ethnicity imbalance. The plan comprises a number of targeted actions – including widening of our student recruitment efforts, monitoring our pipeline of future ethnic minority leaders, reviewing all promotion and reward decisions from an ethnicity perspective, establishing a BAME Advisory Council to feed into the firm’s strategy, and identifying development opportunities both within and outside of the firm (including through external mentoring programmes). This is coupled with our continued focus on ensuring that we provide an inclusive culture.

Dimple Agarwal, managing partner for People & Purpose at Deloitte UK, commented: “Deloitte’s ethnicity pay gap is due to the lower proportion of ethnic minority employees holding the most senior positions within the firm, an issue that we are continuing to address.

“We believe that transparency, combined with targeted action and engagement in the public debate around inclusion, can make a real difference in tackling some of the challenges we face around diversity. We want to ensure the firm is representative of the society in which we operate and the clients we serve."

“Since 2017 we have had a dedicated ethnicity action plan to address this imbalance. Meaningful and sustained change takes time but we are starting to see the results of some of our actions. This year we’ve seen a rise in the proportion of ethnic minority promotions at partner level and an increase in the number of ethnic minority students applying to join our firm – both encouraging signs that our actions are starting to have an impact.”