Implemented since 2019, the Gender Equality Index provides a 100-point measure of wage inequality in companies with at least 50 employees. Its aim is to help close the gender pay gap.

It is structured around five indicators:

• the gender pay gap (40 points);
• the difference in annual increases (20 points);
• the gap in promotions (15 points);
• increases on return from maternity leave (15 points);
• the share of women in the company's ten highest salaries (10 points).

Notable improvements

Since its inception in 2019, the performance of the Equal Opportunity Index has been steadily improving.

First of all, 72% of the companies concerned have published their rating this year, compared with 61% last year.

The average company rating of at least 50 employees is 88 out of 100 for 2023. This is better than in 2022 (86/100) and 2021 (85/100).

To this end, more than 93% of companies have a score of 75/100 or more.

Companies with more than 1,000 employees have an average score of 89.7/100 for 2023. This score is a marked increase compared to the score obtained when the index was created in 2019 (82.9/100). In addition, 97% of these companies have a rating of 75/100 or higher in 2023.

Persistent shortcomings

While there has been some improvement, there is still room for company growth.

Thus, only 2% of companies register for the year 2023 the maximum score of 100/100.

More than 143 companies have a 0/15 rating for the "increases upon return from maternity leave" indicator and have not made any progress since 2020.

As regards the indicator "share of women in the ten highest company earnings", 4271 companies did not progress and one third of companies less than 2 women in their 10 highest earnings.

The same is true for the gender gaps in senior management and senior management. Indeed, more than 60% of companies with more than 1,000 employees have less than 30% women in senior management.