Intel Commits to Helping Bridge Race And Gender Wage Gaps by Providing Equal-Pay Advocates with Data

In a radical move to set itself apart from other big tech companies, Intel announced plans of releasing pay data, which advocates for equal pay, can use when looking deeper at race and gender wage gaps in the tech industry.

The announcement came after Bloomberg reported that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will make it a requirement for business organizations with more than 100 employees, to file pay data. Since the requirement does not make it obligatory for businesses to publish the related information, Intel announced said it will release the pay data to allow public examination.

Although Intel’s announcement also brought into focus the company’s own issues about pay discrimination accusations by female, black, Hispanic Intel employees in various states.

Yet the Department of Labor made it known that Intel had already agreed to pay $5 million to settle the pay-inequality accusations. According to the report published by the Department of Labor, $3.5 million will apply as back pay settlement, while the remaining $1.5 million has been alloted for pay-adjustments of Intel’s engineers.

At the moment, Intel has not made any comment on when such data will be released, as Bloombeg also reported that the EEOC, may yet change its decision to require businesses to file the data in 2020.

About the Race Gender Wage Gap Issue in the U.S.

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The Race Gender Wage Gap issue in the U.S. has become more pronounced than ever. Equal-pay advocates have established the fact that for over a period of 15 years, from 2001 to 2015, the earnings of female workers were only 49 percent of male workers; indicating that there is a 51% wage gap between male and female employees.

White female employees earn only 81.5% of the amount paid as wages to white male employees.

In the U.S. female workers of all major racial and ethnic categories earn less than men belonging to the same categories; suggesting that they also earn less pay than white male workers.

Race and gender wage gap for Asian women though is not as wide as compared to other female workers under different race categories. Asian women rank high in comparisons, since their median weekly earnings represent 93.5% of white male employees’ median earnings per week. Still, when compared to their Asian male counterparts, their median earnings for a week’s work is only 75.5%.

When compared by race categories, the weekly median earnings of Hispanic workers are the lowest versus any race and gender categories; whether white, Asian, or black female and male workers. In 2018, Hispanic women earned $617 weekly for full-time work. The amount is only 61.6 percent of the wages earned weekly by white male workers as median weekly salary. When compared to median weekly earnings of Hispanic male employees, Hispanic women’s weekly earnings represent only 85.7 percent of their male Hispanic counterparts.

In the same way, there is a wage gap between Hispanic and black female workers, with the latter earning $654 as median weekly compensation. Still, the amount earned by female black women per week, represents only 65.3 percent of what white male workers earn as weekly median pays. Wage gap still exists between black male and female workers, as the median weekly salary earned by black women is only 89% of the median weekly earnings received by black male employees.