KUALA LUMPUR: A new study published by talent recruitment agency Firebrand says that in Asia, the gender cap for compensation is dramatically skewed in favor of men. The report said that men earn as high as 60 percent more than women for the same job in a number of Asian countries. When measuring by job sector, the difference is most acute in Hong Kong, where men in account management/media/planning earn a median base salary (not including cash benefits, bonus or pension) of US$61,900 per annum—60 per cent more than women in the same job sector, who earn US$38,700. The Firebrand Market Pulse Gender & Lifestyle Report is based on real-time data extracted from Firebrand's online salary portal, eSalarySurvey. The surveying period was the year leading up to and including April 20, 2012 and spanned the marketing, communications, creative, digital, account management and media sectors in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the UK. It is the first study of its kind conducted by Firebrand. Across the six countries surveyed, in every sector, men are paid more than women—in some cases, significantly so, concluded Firebrand. As the job-sector portion of the study includes staff at all levels, it is important to factor in the likelihood that many senior account management, creative and marketing roles are held by men. This pushes up the median for male salaries. “This raises the question of why men dominate senior roles,” Greg Savage, Firebrand's global chief executive officer, pointed out in an email interview with Campaign Asia.
