At PwC New Zealand we are committed to building a talented and diverse workforce that reflects, and is inclusive of, the diverse communities of Aotearoa New Zealand. Doing this is essential if we are to deliver on our purpose of building trust in society and solving important problems.
Having a diverse workforce means we can better understand and meet the needs of our clients and the communities we serve. We have made specific commitments to increase the gender and ethnic diversity of our entire workforce.
We are proud of our efforts to drive and progress inclusion and diversity, yet we recognise there is more still to do. We also know that it will take time to see the impact of some of the activities that we undertake today, but will be worth it.
On this page we set out the methodology for how we measure our gender and ethnicity pay gaps at PwC New Zealand, and outline the efforts we are undertaking to close our gaps.
Our analysis tells us that our gaps are essentially driven by our workforce profile.
* For detail on how we calculate our ethnicity data click here.
We know the biggest thing we can do to close our pay gaps is to ensure we have more diverse representation across all levels of our business. Here are some of the ways we are addressing this at PwC:
Along with the other Champions for Change member companies, we’ve signed up to a target of 40:40:20 - aiming for 40% women, 40% men, with the remaining 20% from either gender at all levels of employment.
Through targeted action female representation in Senior Leadership, including Partners, Executive Directors, and Directors, has grown from 35.5% in 2020 to 41% in 2024. In the past year, 60% of our partner admissions have been female, helping us continue to work towards our 40:40:20 target at all levels of employment.
The purpose of Global Women is to increase diversity in leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand through promoting, encouraging and facilitating the development of women. PwC is proud to be the Principal Partner of Global Women, supporting the organisation’s efforts to increase diversity at the top levels across Aotearoa New Zealand.
We are part of Global Women’s Champions for Change, a group of 60 CEOs and Chairs who are committed to accelerating inclusive and diverse leadership in our own workplaces.
As part of our process, we apply a gender lens to all promotions, salary reviews, bonus allocations and performance rating distributions. This ensures we avoid systemic bias based on gender. After each performance review cycle, we transparently share the data within the organisation to keep our employees informed about the outcomes and the steps we are taking to maintain fairness. We also apply a gender and ethnicity lens to our pay gap reporting.
Our parental leave policy is gender neutral and inclusive for all parents, and celebrates the importance of whānau. Our recently refreshed policy includes 52 weeks extended parental leave for the primary caregiver, with 26 weeks paid. This is in addition to the New Zealand Government’s paid parental leave offering. We also acknowledge that men may take on the role as primary caregiver, and we’ve seen this increase over the last couple of years further supporting women to return to careers sooner if they choose.
Secondary carers are eligible for 8 weeks paid parental leave, and up to 44 weeks unpaid parental leave. The policy is based on the belief that each parent should have the opportunity to actively spend time bonding with their tamariki, and that by facilitating greater sharing of childcare responsibilities we can enable a more inclusive culture both here at PwC New Zealand and across Aotearoa. You can view our full policy here.
We offer flexible work options, such as remote work and flexible hours, to support work-life balance, particularly for women who may disproportionately shoulder caregiving responsibilities.
Our People Networks make meaningful contributions to the culture of our organisation: Manukura Māori, Pacific Village, Shine (LGBTTQIA+), Asian, Indian, Latino, Families, Elevate (Women in Leadership), Endo & Friends (Endometriosis, PCOS, Adenomyosis), Green Team, Christian and Neurodiversity networks.
They celebrate the diversity of our people, and provide our colleagues with the opportunity to come together as a community, promote diverse perspectives within the firm, raise awareness of cultural events, and advocate on important issues.
We recognise an understanding of a Māori worldview is important to our people and our communities. Through programmes such as Te Māramatanga and Te Ohonga, our Manukura Māori team supports our business to improve the cultural capability of our people, building an understanding and awareness of our nation's indigenous Māori culture and history. We understand by being culturally aware and confident as a business that we’re able to attract and retain the best Māori talent.
This was launched in February 2023 to help PwC achieve greater alignment to the spirit of Te Tiriti.
The name Manaakitanga embodies promoting and fostering mana-enhancing ways, by demonstrating such behaviours as aroha, kindness, care, respect and support towards one another and to others around us. It also means to show respect and care for each other’s information, journey and stories. If we are living by the principles of Manaakitanga, we uplift each other as we travel this pathway together towards incorporating kaupapa Māori approaches in the way we work. PwC New Zealand, as a private organisation, is not a Crown entity and therefore is not a party to Te Tiriti and is not obliged to uphold the principles of Te Tiriti.
However, in living our purpose at PwC New Zealand, we recognise we have a responsibility to lead and role model the way forward. This is particularly important given our role in advising Te Tiriti partners and others on Te Tiriti matters, and fostering inclusion for Māori at PwC New Zealand and more broadly in society. One of the programme’s workstreams is focussed on attracting Māori talent and providing pastoral care once they join the firm. By doing this, we ensure Māori are supported to find meaningful work that aligns with their cultural values.