German video game studio InnoGames published an internal staff earnings report on Tuesday, July 19, in order to be more transparent within the industry and hopefully reel in some major talent. The salary report's debut marks InnoGames as the first video game company in the country to do so and may well be a proving ground for alternative businesses to do the same in the hopes of acquiring staff.
InnoGames' report features 80% of the company's employees, providing specific salary bands on junior roles and department heads for everything from game developers and designers to artists and marketers. The goal behind this move is not only to further implement transparency within the industry but also to attain better employee retention and consistent hiring.
Of keen interest is "sending a clear signal to potential female applicants that pay gaps don't exist at InnoGames," explains the firm's director of human resources, Dr. Andreas Lieb. She adds, "The bottom line is that this is a 'win-win-win' situation. The company, our employees, and current and future applicants all stand to benefit from this disclosure."
According to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, women were paid on average around 18% less than males in the year 2020 across Germany and its various industries. As for Europe, the Gender Pay Gap (GPG) sits at 12.2%, according to the Institute of Labor Economics, and in the United States, an average annual female's salary is about 80% of what male's make. The video game industry itself, while amending some sexist issues within the workplace and building toward better female working conditions, proves to remain rather dated in its payment opportunities for women.
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In an article published in March of this year, Shira Korach, Senior 2D artist at Israel-based Matific states that "In gaming, the gender pay gap is still a thing." She goes on to describe any notion of a raise in question with higher-ups as being "uncomfortable." It's a scary picture, one that some studios are attempting to amend, like Rockstar Games. The creators behind Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption have put in steps to ensure that GPG issues would be improved over the years utilizing sponsorships and programs to enlist equitable gender balances in their pay ranges.
As for InnoGames, it's all about sending a message. Though it may not have been the first entity within Germany to put forth its salaries, as evidenced via Porsche, the fact that InnoGames is the first in the gaming industry should speak volumes about its intentions. The company had been releasing these very same insights internally until deciding to make them public for outward feedback and employment growth.
The report highlights game developers, system administrators, and marketers as being among the highest paid in InnoGames. Instead of outright listing names and targeted salary data, the studio sought to highlight ranges in specific categories to avoid internal issues with employees. Executives are also left out, given that it would be too easy for sleuths to discover specific wages belonging to individuals in smaller departments.
This added level of transparency thus gives potential candidates a throughline into what to expect in their salaries, so they aren't walking into a total surprise upon initial interviews. With this publication, InnoGames aims to eliminate dropout rates during the application process. It also gives InnoGames some potential leeway in areas beyond gaming, attracting staff from the worlds of art, high tech, and much more.
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