Tech giants reveal average 40% gender pay gap in bonuses at UK branches

Tech giants like Google, Facebook and Amazon have reported a 40% gender pay gap in employee bonuses, according to figures submitted to the UK government.

At Google’s UK branch, women are paid 17% less than men on average and receive 40% less than their male colleagues in their bonus payments.

Amazon subsidiary Amazon Video Ltd meanwhile pays women 40% less than men, while at the internet retailer's London Development Center unit, although 98% of women receive bonuses, female employees receive 12% less.

"We have programs that we’re continually working to further improve, to actively recruit and help advance more women into senior and technology-focused roles as we grow our business here in the U.K.," an Amazon spokesman said in a statement.

Facebook faced a similar problem, with female staff at its UK division being paid 60% less in their bonuses than their male counterparts.

However, Facebook's hourly rates gap was far smaller, with females earning 90p for every £1 earned by men.

Facebook told the BBC that the gap was due to a higher proportion of men working in engineering teams or occupying top-level executive roles. Men take up 70.5% of high-paying posts in the firm's British operations.

"Technical roles generally have a higher market rate than other positions due to their more specialised skills, but also the higher rate of demand for those skills in the marketplace," said Fiona Mullan, the company's human resources chief for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.