Gender and ethnicity pay gaps widen across ad industry
Both the gender and ethnicity pay gaps widened substantially in 2024, according to the latest IPA Agency Census.
The size of the gender pay gap increased from 15.2% in 2023 to 19.7% in 2024 in favour of males, with a comparable pay gap existing at both creative and media agencies.
This is despite men accounting for fewer employees overall across IPA member agencies that provided data. Whereas men make up 43.9% of the agency workforce, they receive 49.3% of salaries. In contrast, females accounted for 56.1% of employees but just 50.7% of salaries.
Meanwhile, the size of the ethnicity pay gap jumped from 21.6% in 2023 to 31% in 2024. This figure is higher at media agencies (32.7%) than at creative and other non-media shops (26.5%).
Leila Siddiqi, director of diversity and inclusion at the IPA, concluded that the findings show “there continues to be a lack of progress in terms of progression and remuneration of ethnically diverse talent and the remuneration of women”.
She continued: “The pay gap is one of the measure we can use to tell us whether or not the efforts we are making in this area are having a tangible impact. It may be that extra attention needs to be given to the areas of fair pay, ensuring equal opportunity and reward for all.”
Critics have warned that a recent retrenchment from hybrid working models and cuts to diversity, equity and inclusion staff from some businesses could further exacerbate inequalities in the workplace.
Diversity and women in C-suite tick up
The Agency Census found more positive developments in other areas, however marginal.
For example, the number of females in C-suite positions increased two percentage points to account for 39.9% of all C-suite roles. This was slightly higher among media agencies (41%) than creative shops (39%).
The overall level of ethnic diversity within member agencies also improved slightly, with 23.9% of employees now from a non-white background, up from 23.3% reported a year earlier. This figure is again higher at media agencies (26%) than creative ones (22.6%).
Total staff turnover also fell year over year, from 31.2% in 2023 to 24.1% in 2024, excluding redundancies. There are currently 1,149 open vacancies within the IPA agency database, with a near-even split between openings in creative agencies and media agencies.
Overall, the total number of employees within IPA members grew 0.6% to 26,787.
Attracting and retaining talent
However, agencies’ challenge in recruiting younger talent appeared to exacerbate in 2024, despite efforts from IPA president Josh Krichefski to invest in attracting new young talent to the industry.
The census revealed that the number of under-25 employees fell in 2024, while the number of over-31s rose. The average age of employees thus increased year on year from 34.6 to 35.2.
IPA director-general Paul Bainsfair acknowledged the positive findings, stating that “it is good to see that, despite rough trading conditions for UK plc, the overall number of employees working within IPA agencies has continued to grow this year and that staff turnover has reduced considerably”.
And it was “welcome news” that the percentage of women in C-suite “continues its positive trajectory” and that the “proportion of women and people from a non-white background entering the business is strong”.
However, Bainsfair admitted that there are “areas where more focus could be applied” to improve diversity and inclusion efforts.
Namely, he said more needs to be done to ensure “the progression of people from non-white backgrounds and women up the ladder”, which he implied would go some way towards addressing the gender and ethnicity pay gaps.
The IPA is encouraging all agency employees to complete its cross-industry All In Census, launching for the third time on 12 March, so that it can learn more granular detail on the state of the industry’s workforce.
