The events industry is known for its dynamic nature, requiring flexibility, dedication, and often long, unsociable hours. From glamorous travel opportunities to the adrenaline rush of live event management, many candidates enter the events sector due to its thrilling nature and perks. However, beneath this excitement holds the persistent topic: does the events sector have inequality in pay and role distribution?
Live Recruitment, the specialist recruitment partner powering the UK events industry are proud to share their latest diversity statistics from their ongoing project to provide an in-depth and updated view of the diversification of the events sectors.
Gender Disparities in Event Roles
On the whole across the events industry, females are the larger group apart from in specific areas such as tech and production roles. One of the most notable imbalances in the events industry is the division of roles amongst gender. Many females in the events industry start their careers in event planning, coordination, and project management roles, where skills are attributed to meticulous attention to detail and strong communication. However, in comparison, the production and tech roles come with a requirement to be more hands on and physical and tend to be held by males.
This is still in stark contrast to other industries, where gender diversity is beginning to even out across roles and their respective pay scales. However, the events industry has been slow to catch up, and this lack of equality extends beyond just gender distribution; it also reflects in pay discrepancies.
Laura Kelly, Managing Director of Live Recruitment expressed that“…while production and tech roles—typically held by men—tend to come with overtime pay, project management roles, where women are more prevalent, are expected to be flexible, often absorbing extra hours without additional compensation”. Discrepancies like these within the events industry add to the strain on the gender disparity and inequality in pay.
In a soon to be released diversity and inclusion study by Live Recruitment, the average salaries for men and women in entry level and middle management event roles were fairly evenly balanced with males salaries just outweighing females, however at the senior level end of the events industry the gender disparity becomes far more pronounced with males by far the largest group.
The question within the industry, is why do gender salaries vary so much at the senior end of the scale? There are many challenges that have been reported for years, such as unconscious bias within the workplace leading to an underrepresentation of women in leadership roles, stereotyping and creating stigma around work-life balance when it comes to family responsibilities, parenthood and societal norms, all of which create a disadvantage for females entering seniority.
Laura Sidhu, Senior Account Manager at Live Recruitment noted that “In the past five to eight years, there has been a notable shift toward more female ownership and leadership within the events sector. This is a positive sign that the glass ceiling is beginning to crack, with more women taking the reins of event agencies and event businesses”.
Female leaders bring diverse perspectives and are helping drive the conversation around equality and flexibility in working conditions. However, despite this progress, the balance is far from perfect. Leadership roles in areas like production and technical operations remain predominantly male. This echoes trends seen in other industries where technical and engineering roles are male-dominated, and women find it harder to break into these higher-paid sectors.
Moving Towards Equality: The Path Forward
While the events industry has made progress in addressing gender, there is still much work to be done to achieve true pay equality. Females are leading the way in the industry in terms of numbers, however their salaries from entry level to seniority do not match that of their male counterparts. Closing the gender pay gap in the events industry can not only promote equality but also improve the industry’s talent pool by attracting a more diverse workforce at all levels.
The events industry must continue to challenge the status quo, breaking down gender barriers and ensuring that pay and opportunities are equal for all professionals, regardless of their role or gender. By doing so, it can set a standard for other industries to follow, proving that flexibility, excitement, and glamour don’t have to come at the cost of equality.