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Challenge #1: Pay differentials

Understanding, defending and managing pay differentials.


Johannesburg, 20 Apr 2016
WhitePaper: PECS Wage Gap
WhitePaper: PECS Wage Gap

The gap between executive and worker level earnings has become the target of intense media speculation and public debate.

Unions and worker level groups may be uninformed about the real meaning of this statistic and how to interpret it - but it nevertheless represents a source of dissatisfaction and a trigger for industrial action and workplace disruption.

Pay differentials exist because the costs of recruiting and retaining labour at different skills levels varies as a result of the supply and demand of suitably qualified and experienced personnel. Skills required to direct, lead and manage organisations are more complex and thus scarcer than those needed to carry out the basic, semi-skilled and skilled work needed at lower levels. Factors such as experience, tenure, industry sector and geography/location also play a role.