[Netherlands] Slight narrowing of pay gaps and higher salaries for women

National statistics agency CBS announced on April 30 that the pay gap between the board room and shop floor at the Netherlands’ 1,000 biggest companies has slightly narrowed, Dutch News reports. 

The gross salary of the five biggest earners is now 5.9 times that of the company’s average wage. In the previous survey, covering 2017 and 2018, the figure was 6.1 per cent. 

At the same time, more women are now earning high salaries; one in four of the top earners at the 1,000 big firms in the survey are female. In 2010, the figure was just 17 per cent. 

The CBS said that the biggest wage gap is reportedly in the trade sector, where boardroom salaries are 11.2 times that of the average worker. In the financial sector, where the wage gap was 15.7 in 2010, the difference in pay has dropped to 9.3. 

In healthcare and education - traditionally employing women in high numbers - the pay gap is smallest at 3.6 and 2.4 respectively. The CBS said this is partially due to official limits on public sector pay, which freeze executive salaries at the rate of a government minister. 

The fact that 75 per cent of Dutch women work part-time has also had an impact. In 2020, approximately 252,000 people were earning a basic salary of at least €100,000 a year in the Netherlands. Women now account for nearly one in five of those jobs, compared with just 10 per cent in 2010.

National statistics agency CBS announced on April 30 that the pay gap between the board room and shop floor at the Netherlands’ 1,000 biggest companies has slightly narrowed, Dutch News reports. 

The gross salary of the five biggest earners is now 5.9 times that of the company’s average wage. In the previous survey, covering 2017 and 2018, the figure was 6.1 per cent. 

At the same time, more women are now earning high salaries; one in four of the top earners at the 1,000 big firms in the survey are female. In 2010, the figure was just 17 per cent. 

The CBS said that the biggest wage gap is reportedly in the trade sector, where boardroom salaries are 11.2 times that of the average worker. In the financial sector, where the wage gap was 15.7 in 2010, the difference in pay has dropped to 9.3. 

In healthcare and education - traditionally employing women in high numbers - the pay gap is smallest at 3.6 and 2.4 respectively. The CBS said this is partially due to official limits on public sector pay, which freeze executive salaries at the rate of a government minister. 

The fact that 75 per cent of Dutch women work part-time has also had an impact. In 2020, approximately 252,000 people were earning a basic salary of at least €100,000 a year in the Netherlands. Women now account for nearly one in five of those jobs, compared with just 10 per cent in 2010.