Men more likely than women to negotiate big pay rises, study finds

Men are more likely to negotiate and ask for bigger pay rises than women are, according to a survey released today.

Only four in ten women felt comfortable asking for a big pay rise, compared to two-thirds of men, job site CV-Library's survey of 1,200 working professionals found.

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Only 40 per cent of men reported never negotiating their salary as compared to over half of women, the survey found.

Lee Biggins, founder and chief executive of CV-Library, said: “In this day and age, it's concerning to see that women are still holding back from negotiation in the workplace.”

“Whether it's salary, working hours or their job title, it's important to be direct with your employer about your needs.

“Communicating with your employer doesn't have to be a scary prospect. They're paying you to do a job well and will want to know that you're fully equipped to do so.”

More than half of the women surveyed were likely to receive a pay rise of up to just two per cent, while men were consistently more likely to get a pay rise of between three and five per cent or more.

Biggins says that while there are many reason for the gender pay gap, “it certainly seems that men are happier to advocate on their own behalf”.

“If you suspect that you're being paid less than a colleague for the same job, then you're well within your rights to confront the issue head-on,” Biggins added.

“Taking ownership is the best way to start closing that gender pay gap,” he said. “Set aside some time and schedule in an appointment to put your stakes in the ground. After all, if you don't ask, you don't get.”

Even when it comes to negotiating a job offer, there are differences between what men and women tend to debate.

Women are more likely to negotiate working hours than men, with 56.4 per cent of women saying they would debate job hours as compared to 40.9 per cent of men.

Men are more concerned about job titles than women, with almost a third of men saying that the title is the most important part of the job offer.

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Only a quarter of women agreed that their job title was a deal breaker, while 86.6 per cent said that location mattered the most. Men were just as likely to say that location mattered the most, with 83.4 per cent agreeing.

The survey results comes after news that the gender pay gap widened at 181 of the UK's largest employers last year.