Equal Pay Day: how big is the gap in the tech sector?
Men have already earned the average annual salary of women combined.
Published on November 24, 2025
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Today is Equal Pay Day: the moment when men have earned the average annual salary of women. This year, that date falls slightly later than in 2024. On average, women's hourly wages are 10.5% lower than men's, while last year that difference was 12%. The fact that men earn more per hour is only partly due to factors such as higher positions or more work experience.
What about the tech sector?
What about the tech sector? In tech and design, men earn an average of 17% more than women, according to the State of Global Compensation report. This report looked at more than 150 countries.
According to the report, the pay gap exists in virtually all technology sectors. In engineering and data roles, women earn an average of $88,000 (€76,174) per year, while men earn $107,000 (€92,620) – a difference of 22%. In product and design roles, the average salary for women is also around 7% lower. The largest gap is seen in sales and marketing roles within the IT sector: women earn around $70,000 per year, compared to $86,000 for men, a difference of 23%.
A new law
The European Gender Pay Directive (GPD) will come into force on January 1, 2027. This new regulation requires companies to disclose the differences in pay between men and women. In the Netherlands, the directive will be transposed into the Wage Transparency Act. Large organizations with more than 250 employees will soon have to report their Equal Pay Gap (EPG) every year; medium-sized companies with more than 100 employees will have to do so once every three years. If a pay gap of more than 5% is found to exist, organizations must take measures to reduce it. The law was initially supposed to come into effect earlier, but was postponed to allow more time for preparation.
However, according to VNO-NCW, the rules are complicated and involve a lot of administration, writes the FD. Trade union FNV is concerned that the introduction is being postponed and is calling on women to take action on Monday against what they call the “wage scandal.”