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A report out today has said that at the current rate of pay, it is going to take about 98 years for women managers to catch men up for them to have equal pay.


So this whole gender issue got me thinking about our own industry and the role women play, especially in sales.


The majority of sales people I’ve come across working in this industry have mostly been men. In fact all the sales people that have worked where I do have been male. Not through choice of the business, but only because it has only ever been men that have applied for jobs. I pose the question then: do we need more women in sales in this industry?


Would women be able to improve the image of the industry? I’ve always been of the perception that men have always been quite aggressive in the way they go about their work. And the industry does still have the image of a stuffy, old fashioned, middle-aged men controlled sector. Maybe more women sales people with a less aggressive approach might help to shake off that smokey old image.


Women are certainly capable of doing the job. Which brings me on to the issue of pay. There should be no reason why the pay for women should be any less than men. Same amount of work, same amount of pay – simple!


In a general context, there shouldn’t be such a large gap in pay between men and women. We’re living in a modern age, everyone should be paid in the same manner, and based on the work they do and how well they do it. Though as a parting shot to women tennis players. If you want to be paid the same as men in Grand Slams, play the same amount of sets! I would fully expect the men to be paid less if they played less sets than the women.