A prominent editor at the BBC has resigned over what has been described as a “secretive and illegal” pay structure. Carrie Gracie has worked for the BBC for over 30 years and is currently the head of BBC China—she handed in her resignation, stating that she was being paid 33% less than her male counterparts, and though she was recently offered a raise, it was still less than what male international editors were offered.
The BBC was ordered to disclose the salaries of employees making over £150,000 back in July, and it was revealed that the men in the company earned more overall than the women, and under pressure from public condemnation, the company commissioned an internal review of their pay structure, which revealed that male employees earned 9.3% more overall. And while that’s certainly a discrepancy, Gracie says that what she faces is even wider—at 50%!
“Up to two hundred BBC women have made pay complaints only to be told repeatedly there is no pay discrimination at the BBC,” said Gracie. “Can we all be wrong? I no longer trust our management to give an honest answer.” She also went on to say that other female coworkers found the wage gap was not adequately represented in the internal review after sharing their salaries with the men in the office.
“It is not men earning more because they do more of the jobs which pay better. It is men earning more in the same jobs or jobs of equal value,” Gracie wrote in a letter which you can read in full here.
The BBC denies Gracie’s claims, with a spokesperson telling the Guardian that the BBC is “performing considerably better than many and are well below the national average.”