Amazon says it paid women 99.9% the same as men in 2015

Amazon has given in to pressure and revealed the pay equality percentage among its workforce, saying that female workers make essentially the same amount as male workers in equivalent positions. Overall, last year saw women within the company making 99.9% of what men made. The company also tossed another percentage into the mix, saying minorities within the company made 100.1% of what white employees made.

Amazon had been under pressure from the Securities and Exchange Commission over its effort to sidestep revealing gender pay equality figures. The company has since given in and has revealed a survey of 2015 worker pay; the survey includes all workers across the company's U.S. workforce.

In a statement, Amazon pointed out that the figures will "naturally [experience] slight fluctuations from year to year," but vowed that it will continue to ensure pay between the genders is "fair and equitable." The diversity figures are still in need of improvement, though, as last year saw only 24-percent of Amazon management jobs going to women, and 39% total across the workforce.

Companies have increasingly set their sights on workforce diversity and equality, mostly doing so under pressure from various advocacy groups. Several tech companies have vowed to increase their diversity workforce numbers (eg, hiring more minorities and women), while a lesser number have addressed the pay equality issue.

The movement hasn't been without it foibles, though. Microsoft was sued late last year over alleged gender discrimination, for example, and a month later the company's CEO Satya Nadella was hit with harsh criticism over comments he made about women and how they should go about getting pay raises.

While Microsoft apologized for its mistakes, the company doesn't appear to have learned much from them — in recent days, it was criticized for throwing a party with 'schoolgirl' female dancers. Microsoft has apologized for that incident, as well.

SOURCE: Wall Street Journal