42% of black professionals do not receive a pay increase after negotiation – double the number of white professionals. The figure is much starker for black women, where an overwhelming 63% do not receive a pay increase following salary negotiation.

Furthermore when analysing those that are successful in receiving a pay increase, it is black professionals (21%) that have the lowest success rate of receiving 75-100% of their requested pay rise. This compares with over a third of white professionals (35%) who received 75-100% of their requested pay increase.

For those that do not attempt pay negotiation, it seems that the ‘general feeling’ of their employer not agreeing to a pay rise is a larger deterrent for black workers (37%) compared to white (23%).

The findings come from a new whitepaper report from leading recruiter Robert Walters – Driving Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace – who surveyed over 7,500 professionals year-on-year between 2019-2021.

Habiba Khatoon – Director at Robert Walters comments:

“This report is one of the most significant pieces of research into Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace in the past two years, and specifically highlights the failures that come from a lack of effective inclusion – where company structure, culture, and/or policies negatively impact underrepresented groups.

“Whilst D&I has rightly been a prime concern for leadership teams, who now understand how critical an active D&I policy is for their organisation’s success, it remains the case that almost no protected characteristic – be it gender, sexuality, ethnicity, disability, or age – can be said to be properly represented in the workplace.

“There has indeed been positive conversations and policies introduced in the past two years to tackle the issues around representation, but this is an intersectional and complex matter – and the nuances of D&I mean that some conversations are, in some respects, still in their infancy, with considerable room for progress.

“We can all look at our numbers, but diversity & inclusion goes beyond the data points – they are complex, human issues that require a much more holistic approach. Yes, representation is important, but it is just one fraction of what companies need to be doing to improve diversity & inclusion. It’s one thing to offer under-represented groups a seat at the table, but this only works if it coincides with them having a voice.”

IMPACT OF COVID-19

The temporary hold on the governments decision to bring in mandatory Ethnicity Pay Gap Reporting has made it difficult to make a fair assessment on where things currently stand.

In the March 2021 UK Commission on Race & Ethnic Disparities report, the findings revealed that the pay gap between all minorities and the white British group had shrunk by 2.3%. However according to the ONS “this simple comparison between white and ethnic minority groups does, however, mask a wide variety of experiences among different ethnic minorities” where – for example – the Pakistani/Bangladeshi group earn 16% less and the black African group 8% less than the average white British group.