ExxonMobil 2018 UK Gender Pay Gap Report shows strong equal pay results and actions underway to improve performance

• Company’s gender pay gap is significantly lower than UK national average
• Recruitment of female science and technology graduates exceeds national average
• Representation of women in management roles increases
• Company recognises challenges persist and commits to accelerating progress

For many years ExxonMobil has worked to address the challenge of achieving gender balance in a historically male-dominated industry. Although there are proportionately fewer females studying Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects at school and in higher education, ExxonMobil is working hard to recruit talented females, retain women in early and mid-career stages and develop them into future company leaders.

In 2018, 41 percent of graduate recruits to ExxonMobil in the UK were female. This compares with 24 percent five years ago and is far higher than the proportion of females graduating in STEM subjects nationwide (24 percent)².

Thirty percent of ExxonMobil’s UK female employees are in management positions, a slight increase from 2017 (29 percent) and up from 24 percent five years ago.

“The results in our 2018 report reflect our long-held commitment to equal pay, the fundamental values of our company, and our continuing efforts to attract and develop female talent at all levels,” said Mike Cooper, Chairman of Esso UK and Lead Country Manager for ExxonMobil companies in the UK . “We are making progress, but we are not complacent in our drive to narrow the gender pay gap. There is much still to do to sustain and improve on these results. We remain focused on continued progress – because it’s the right thing to do and it is simply good business to draw on diverse perspectives and capabilities, to better reflect the communities and customers we serve.”

Gender pay gap data is driven by a number of variables that may change from year to year.

“Disparities between men and women across the company reflect the historic preponderance of men in our industry as a whole. Action to address the gender pay gap and ensure more equal representation of women at all levels of the company requires commitment and sustained effort over many years,” said Elaine Cole, ExxonMobil’s UK Human Resources Manager.

“We are successfully reaching out to the next generation of female scientists and engineers to ensure a higher presence in future generations of senior management, while continuing to develop our current female employees.”

To address the challenge of gender pay disparity ExxonMobil is focusing on the following actions:

• Recruiting more women at all levels of the business, including graduates and apprentices;
• Retaining and developing women in early and mid-career stages;
• Developing female talent to leadership and senior technical positions;
• Enhancing parental leave and workplace flexibility to enable employees to balance work and personal commitments;
• Increasing focus on inclusion and diversity to support employees throughout their careers; and   
• Investing in STEM education programmes, including for girls and young women, in communities local to the company’s UK sites, to build grassroots science and technology capability.

ENDS

Further enquiries:

ExxonMobil UK press office: Phone: +44 01372 222 261, Email: uk.mediarelations@exxonmobil.com

About ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, uses technology and innovation to help meet the world’s growing energy needs. ExxonMobil holds an industry-leading inventory of resources, is one of the largest refiners and marketers of petroleum products, and its chemical company is one of the largest in the world. For more information, visit www.exxonmobil.com or our UK site www.exxonmobil.co.uk.

Notes for editors:

This report has been produced in line with the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap) Regulations 2017, and in accordance with the guidance on managing gender pay developed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Service (Acas).

The information combines the pay data for the two UK companies covered by the regulations: Esso Petroleum Company, Ltd. and ExxonMobil Chemical Company Limited.

The report shows that the companies’ combined 3.9 percent median gender pay gap in 2018 remains comparatively low compared with the UK average (17.9 percent), but shows a slight increase on the 0.8 percent figure of 2017. This is due to demographic changes in the company population, including success in recruiting proportionately more females at graduate entry level alongside the departure of proportionately more higher-paid women than men during the year.

Women represent 17 percent of ExxonMobil’s total UK workforce.

In 2018, there was a reduction in the median bonus gap from 7.7 percent in 2017 to 3.1 percent. Of those that received a bonus in 2018, 19 percent were women compared to 17 percent of men. This is unchanged from 2017.

ExxonMobil supports the work of voluntary, employee-led networks that work to foster a culture of inclusivity across the breadth of its business.

For more information please visit https://www.exxonmobil.co.uk/en-gb/company/gender-pay

¹ Office for National Statistics, ‘Gender Pay Gap in the UK: 2018’, Oct. 25, 2018.

² WISE, Core STEM graduates 2017 and 2018 Workforce Statistics.