Full pay equity is not projected to be achieved in the US until 2048. That means female workers won’t see the same level of pay as their male colleagues for nearly a quarter century.

According to new research from The Josh Bersin Company of 113 organizations’ real-world pay policies, produced using data from Visier, women in the US currently earn 15% less than men.

The research found that the US gender pay gap is narrowing, down 3 percentage points over the past six years – however, the gap has remained at 15% since 2020, when COVID-19 struck the world.

The gap between male and female managers’ pay is closing the quickest, down 4 percentage points since 2018 (from 14% to 10%). This represents a 29% reduction, although no progress was made between 2019 and 2021, nor between 2022 and 2023.

As such, the gender pay gap for female managers stayed at 10% in 2023, which The Josh Bersin Company said translates to “significantly less economic long-term compensation” over a career compared to male counterparts with the same skills and experiences.

Meanwhile, better-paid female managers will still need approximately 15 years, rather than a full quarter-century, to close the pay gap. This disparity, the research shows, exists even at the executive level.

Research published early last year by WTW found that in some US sectors, the gender pay gap is growing, specifically within Finance and Controlling, Information Technology, Legal, Marketing and Communication.

The drivers of solutions to the gender pay gap

One of the key drivers for change will be the upcoming 2026 European Union Directive on Pay Transparency, which will require employers to disclose information that makes it easier for employees to compare salaries and to expose existing gender pay gaps.

Compared to the US, the average gender pay gap is lower across the European Union at between 12-13% –known as the unadjusted pay gap.

However, the legislation is also anticipated to have a global impact on employers and includes provisions for compensating victims of pay discrimination and imposing significant fines on employers who violate the rules.

Speaking exclusively to UNLEASH about the research findings, Josh Bersin, founder and CEO of The Josh Bersin Company, explains that there are three steps to begin addressing the causes of gender pay disparity.

“Make sure you have a pay equity project or team in place to start looking at pay levels against factors like tenure, gender, level, hiring manager, and other factors so you have a good statistical understanding of pay inequities in your company,” he tells UNLEASH.

This, he says, means giving compensation and benefits teams the resources required to conduct such work.

Next, one the analysis is complete, HR leaders should take time with other senior leadership and the talent teams to figure out how pay will be managed for use-cases such as hiring, promotion, internal movement, or job family changes.

“Some companies, for example, immediately change pay levels when employees move to a new job family, while others do not,” Bersin states.

The third task is to create a “clear communications” strategy for managers and employees regarding the organization’s analysis, results and actions – in other words, greater pay transparency.

If companies don’t do this kind of preparation the new EU legislation could end up creating either a legal or PR challenge,” Bersin warns.

“The positive here is that prioritizing pay equity can significantly enhance your employment brand, boosting productivity, retention, and recruiting efforts.”