Amazon pays women 99.9% what it pays men

SAN FRANCISCO — After fighting not to release details of what male and female employees are paid, Amazon has done an about-face and made the figures public.

“I assume they looked at the numbers and they were happy with the results and now they’re willing to be transparent about it and accountable,” said Natasha Lamb, spokeswoman for Arjuna Capital in Boston, which had been leading efforts to force the disclosure.

In a statement, Amazon (AMZN) said that a review of its entire U.S. staff, including warehouse workers, found that women’s compensation in 2015 was 99.9% of men’s in equivalent jobs. Further, minorities make 100.1% of what white workers earn, Amazon said.

“There will naturally be slight fluctuations from year to year, but at Amazon we are committed to keeping compensation fair and equitable,” the statement said.

Arjuna, a unit of investment firm Baldwin Brothers, is an Amazon shareholder and has been pushing tech companies to disclose and improve what they pay women.

“We know that nationally, women are paid 79 cents on the dollar for what men are paid. In tech, women are paid $10,000 less on average than their male counterparts are,” Lamb said.

Amazon initially fought a shareholder proposal brought by Arjuna Capital and co-filed by Pax World Funds that would have required it to make the disclosure, said Lamb.

However, the Securities and Exchange Commission rejected Amazon’s attempt to keep the resolution off the ballot earlier this month.

“Some companies are stepping up and committing to address the issue. It’s obvious that Amazon has done that in terms of their policies and practices, and we’re happy with that,” said Lamb

Over the past year, Arjuna has fought to get tech companies to release information about what women and men are paid. It began with eBay last year. Since then it has focused on Apple, Intel, Amazon, Facebook, Expedia, Google, Adobe and Microsoft, Lamb said.

So far Intel, Apple and now Amazon have released information about what the sexes earn. Intel announced in February it has achieved 100% gender equity in its salaries. On Feb. 26, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple currently pays women 99.6% what it pays men and that the company is committed to closing the remaining gap.

Closing the wage gap is not only the right thing to do but will make the companies stronger and more profitable, said Lamb.

“In Silicon Valley only 11% of executive positions are held by women, and only 10% of board seats are held by women. That’s about half of what the Fortune 100 companies have,”  Lamb said.

Knowing they will be paid fairly will encourage women to move into leadership positions. In the end, that will make those companies more competitive globally, Arjuna believes.

Overall, few U.S. companies release information about women's pay compared with men. So far the biggest are Apple, Intel, The Gap, Salesforce.com and GoDaddy, said Lamb.