The Times reported late last week the multinational financial services company had released a report showing that female staff earned salaries 29.7% lower on average than men, with bonuses 75.6% lower.

The insurance firm is the latest of a number of employers to reveal its gender pay gap after government introduced rules last year requiring UK companies and public sector bodies employing more than 250 staff to publish data on their gender pay gap by 4 April this year.

The report also revealed Prudential has had positive feedback to the unconscious bias training it has already carried out, with 188 rolled out for senior leaders across the group in 2017 and plans to launch an unconscious bias e-learning course in the first half of the year, with all staff and new joiners within its Prudential UK and M&G businesses required to complete the training.

The training forms part of a wider strategy to ensure Prudential closes its gender gap and increases the number of women in senior leadership roles to hit its target of 30% of its leadership team in the 100 most pivotal roles in the group to be female at the end of 2021.

This wider strategy involves a diversity & inclusion (D&I) focused review of HR processes, D&I action plans and communication, aspirational direction, targets, measuring and reporting, mentoring, sponsorship and coaching, work with schools and universities, investing in and support affinity group networks and a group-wide D&I conference.

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