Despite efforts to reduce the UK’s gender pay gap, new research suggests the opposite may be true, with a greater proportion of men earning more than women than in 2024.
According to a new Salary Benchmark Report from AI-powered spend management and procurement platform Spendesk, men earn 35 per cent more than women (up from 24 per cent in 2024).
Through a survey of over 600 finance professionals from Europe’s largest finance community, CFO Connect, Spendesk found that women working in finance in the UK earn on average £90,068, compared to their male counterparts who earn £128,431 on average.
This growing disparity places the UK as the second-worst performing country for gender pay equality among those surveyed, behind only Germany (40 per cent), while some markets like France have managed to narrow their gender pay gap to one per cent this year. Spendesk argues that this trend appears particularly alarming because it has occurred despite an overall reduction in UK finance salaries of three per cent in the UK, with Germany seeing a six per cent decrease, while France and the US have bucked the trend with nine per cent and eight per cent growth respectively compared to last year.
The pay disparity becomes even more pronounced at higher levels of seniority, with male CFOs globally earning 22 per cent more than their female counterparts, and the pattern is consistent across most finance roles, with male finance directors earning 18 per cent more.
The repercussions for talent retention are clear: 28 per cent of women in finance are actively seeking new roles specifically to secure fair compensation, creating a significant risk for organisations failing to prioritise pay equity in their talent strategies.
Predicting AI impact
“The latest data from our annual CFO Salary Benchmark reveals concerning trends in pay equity across UK and European finance,” commented Rodolphe Ardant, founder of Spendesk. “The UK’s widening gap is especially troubling, while for EU companies, who, in one year’s time, must be implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive, there is a long way to go.”
The study also revealed shifting attitudes toward job mobility, with 49 per cent of UK finance professionals likely to look for new roles. The primary motivations cited were salary expectations (24 per cent) and desire for new challenges (25 per cent).
Regarding technology adoption, the research found that 52 per cent of finance professionals are enthusiastic about AI’s potential impact on their work, with only seven per cent believing that the arrival of AI is overrated or unlikely to have any major impact. Nearly 40 per cent of respondents maintain a balanced perspective, anticipating both positive and negative effects of AI on finance teams’ work. Over 92 per cent believe that software and technology skills will be crucial for job advancement and salary negotiations in the future.
Speaking on technology’s transformative role, Ardant added: “The finance profession stands at a technological crossroads, with the striking contrast between market uncertainty and technological optimism. Professionals are embracing technology not just as a productivity tool, but as a career differentiator.
“However, the significant proportion of respondents expressing mixed feelings suggests that the industry is still navigating the balance between opportunity and challenge. In my experience, it reveals how the finance professionals who will thrive aren’t those simply waiting for market conditions to improve, but those actively developing the technological capabilities that will make them invaluable strategic partners to their businesses, regardless of economic climate.”
