Equal Pay Day marks the number of additional days it takes for women, on average, to earn what men did in the prior year. In 2021, Equal Pay Day was March 24, representing the 83 additional workdays required for women to earn equivalent compensation to what men earned in 2020. In 2021, the gender pay gap was reduced to 74 workdays, and so today, March 15, is Equal Pay Day 2022.
While the gender pay gap is shrinking, there is still a lot of work to do – women across the U.S. still make only 83 cents on average for every dollar paid to men.
Equal Pay Day serves as a reminder and call to action to renew our collective commitment to the principles of equal opportunity for all. In particular, Black, Latina and Indigenous women face greater challenges when it comes to equal pay, and it’s important that business leaders across all industries work even harder to identify and correct these disparities.
Micron and Pay Equity
While companies across various industries continue to work toward closing the overall gender pay gap, I am proud that Micron has been successful in fulfilling its commitment to reach pay equity and inclusive benefits globally.
In 2018, we achieved our goal of global pay equity for women, and we have sustained this milestone every year since. Last year, we achieved pay equity in the U.S. for our veteran, Black and Hispanic team members. We also closed the pay gap in Singapore for Malays and for people with disabilities globally.
While many companies have focused their pay equity efforts on salary alone, Micron’s focus on pay equity is comprehensive in nature, including base pay, cash bonuses and stock awards.
Maintaining pay equity requires continuous vigilance. At Micron, we constantly monitor pay equity through a defined process of analyzing our pay structure, and we act quickly to address any identified statistically significant gaps.
Offering Comprehensive, Inclusive Benefits Globally
Pay equity is one important step toward creating an inclusive and welcoming workplace where team members feel seen, heard, valued and respected. However, it is important we expand the concept of pay equity to include more than employee compensation.
That’s why at Micron we continuously evaluate the benefits we offer globally and drive improvements to ensure that they remain comprehensive, inclusive and equitable. We have embarked on a multi-year partnership with a third-party evaluator to help us assess the benefits Micron offers our team members and find opportunities to provide additional inclusive enhancements at our sites around the world.
I am encouraged to see the dedication of our team members and partners as we continue to advance global pay equity and inclusive team member benefits at Micron. I hope that other companies across industries will join hands with us towards this shared goal for society, where we work together, learn from each other and ensure equitable compensation and benefits for all. This will be a big step forward in ensuring that everyone feels valued and has the opportunity to reach their full potential in the workplace.
And my ultimate hope is that in the near future, we reach our collective goal of ensuring that the concept of Equal Pay Day becomes redundant and a thing of the past.
