Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff promised to review employees’ wages to ensure that women and men are paid equally within the company.
In an interview with Emily Peck of Huffington Post, Benioff emphasized that part of his responsibility is to make sure “women are treated 100% equally” in terms advancement, opportunity, and salary at salesforce.com.
According to Benioff, he is uncertain regarding the current percentage of the pay gap between men and women at salesforce.com. He emphasized that it would take the company several years to complete a review on the matter. He vowed that there would be no pay gap after he finished his review. Benioff said, “I expect to be giving a lot more. Pay is the third rail,”
Census data showed that a woman working full time received approximately 77% of the salary received a man in 2013.
Salesforce.com has approximately 16,000 employees based on its regulatory filing. Its diversity report showed that 71% of its employees are male. The majority of the tech and leadership positions in the company are held by men.
Salesforce launched Women’s Surge
Benioff said salesforce.com launched a program called Women’s Surge to address the small number of female employees. He emphasized that one objective of the program was to have at least 30% of women attending any small or large-scale management meetings or product reviews.
During the interview, Benioff mentioned that he recently tapped a promising woman to replace a male speaker at a conference. He is confident that the woman would be a good speaker.
In addition, Benioff said salesforce.com made it a priority to hire and promote women. “Not a single one of my execs hires or promotes without evaluating every woman candidate,” he said.
Benioff praised Facebook COO Shery Sandberg
Benioff also praised Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook. According to him, “Sandberg has done a great job encouraging women.”
Sandberg wrote the Book Lean In, which inspires women to pursue their ambitions in life. She also encourages women to talk about the challenges confronting them and work together to make changes and create a better world for everybody.
