Is there an ethnicity pay gap in tech?

Contextual data

Black engineers earn less than any other ethnic group in the UK, with the average black engineer expecting a salary of £57,052 compared to £65,784 for Asian engineers and £66,079. Expected salary is here taken as a proxy for actual salary (cord asks engineers how much they expect to earn, not how much they currently earn) but, if accurate, this represents a difference of almost over £8,000, or 15.82%, between the average black and white engineer.

Below, the data is explored by function, job title (among developers) and seniority in order to compare the difference between the salaries of engineers of comparable ability and experience from different ethnic backgrounds.

Unless clarified by context, "engineer" is used to refer to any professional who has created a profile for job-seeking purposes on cord. Engineers are carefully selected to be able to create profiles on cord. They require professional experience in Tech and Product-related roles, and are therefore specifically represent people working in these roles rather than, as many other statistics sometimes cover, the "technology industry" as a whole. It is therefore felt that the data discussed here gives a unique insight into ethnic pay differentials among people working in Tech and Product-specific roles.

Salaries by ethnic background and function

In every function, black engineers earn less than engineers of any other background.

White Infrastructure engineers, the highest earners on average out of every function and ethnicity category, earn 22.11% more than their black counterparts.

Developer salaries by ethnic background and job title

Among developers, black developers are the lowest-paid in Back End and Full Stack positions, and are the lowest paid among Front End developers.

Asian Back End developers, the highest earning ethnic group among all developers, earn on average 12.58% more than black counterparts.

Salaries by ethnic background and seniority

Entry-level and junior black engineers tend to be paid more than their white counterparts, on average, and roughly the same as white engineers at mid level. However, from senior level onwards, black engineers become the lowest-earning group.

Key Insights

• On average, white engineers earn 15.82% more than black engineers - an average of more than £8,000

• Black engineers earn less than other ethnic groups in all functions, and in two out of three job titles within Development

• Despite similar or higher salaries than white counterparts at entry - mid level, black engineer salaries trail all other ethnic groups’ from senior level upwards

Data Disclaimer

Data refers to 46,693 engineers based in the UK looking for work on cord.

Ethnic background is predicted by a third-party API (https://namsor.app/) based on an Engineer's name. The API makes mistakes, but is accurate in 90-95% of cases.

All salary data is based on engineers' expected salaries on cord, which is used as a proxy for actual salary.