All-in Diversity Project identifies increased gender gap in gambling industry employment

The industry non-profit’s third annual All-Index on diversity and inclusion in the gambling sector has found that men significantly outnumber women for the first time.

UK.- The All-in Diversity Project (AiDP) annual All-Index report has identified a new gender gap in the makeup of the gambling industry’s workforce. While the male/female makeup of the workforce was around 50/50 in previous reports, the non-profit’s 2020/21 report found that 56 per cent of employees were men.

The third annual report found that there had been advances in female leadership but that inclusion policies were still lagging. The report, which was delayed to account for the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, used an expanded index, now covering 140,000 employees in 40 gambling-related organisations in 16 jurisdictions.

Of the organisations represented, almost a third were operators and 29 per cent are suppliers. Some 41.5 per cent are large PLCs with more than 250 employees.

The latest index shows the biggest gender gap in employment to date, with 56 per cent men, compared to 43 per cent women. Meanwhile, 0.2 per cent of employees identified as non-binary.

The biggest gaps were at entry-level jobs (45 per cent female vs 55 per cent male), and the project has alerted industry leaders of opportunities to develop talent pool diversity and mentoring of women. There were, however, advances in terms of women in leadership.

Women accounted for 33 per cent of team leader roles and 32 per cent of managerial positions, above the US S&P benchmark of 30 per cent but still below the UK business average of 51 per cent.

In executive management and corporate governance, women accounted for 25 per cent and 18.5 per cent respectively. The report raised concerns that gambling organisations had reduced support activities for women by 12 per cent and mental health assistance by 30 per cent. The report has criticised the lack of women in leadership positions in the past.

The index also notes a number of disruptive trends. It found that businesses revised their approach to HR, recruitment and day-to-day policies and practices amid the Covid-19 pandemic. It also noted the phenomenon of the post-pandemic ‘Great Resignation‘, the recognition of menopause as a health issue for women employees and a shift towards applying parental policies to same-sex couples.

The number of organisations that offer company-paid sick leave fell from 95.83 per cent in 2019 to 84.38 per cent. The number offering support via carers and childcare assistance fell from 58 per cent and 41 per cent to 34 per cent and 18 per cent. However, the number with flexible working policies increased from 75 per cent (2019) to 84.38 per cent.

The index found that internal referrals were the most used method for promotion and employee development. As for pay data, only 40 per cent of organisations gathered gender pay data, and only one collected ethnicity-based metrics.

Industry leaders

The AiDP named Sky Betting and Gaming (Sky Bet) as its industry leader on workforce practices and DEI initiatives for the period. It gained a score of 85 out of 100 on the index. Kindred Group came second with 79 points.

Sky Bet said: “At Sky Betting and Gaming, better is just the beginning. Inclusion work is never done. As an organisation, we will always experience the symptoms of society’s wider challenges. However, with a strong strategy laid on authentic values demonstrated by our leadership team, we’re making the changes in our organisation that we’d want to see in the wider world.” 

The British Amusement Catering Trade Association (Bacta) has reported that the UK’s seaside gaming arcades and adult gaming centres are struggling with recruitment due to the cost of living crisis. It said that a majority of its members were having difficulty in finding “willing and able employees”.

Some of the members that responded to the association’s survey expressed concerns about the future financial viability of their companies. Asked to rate the difficulty of recruiting staff on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the most difficult, the average score was 7.2. Results were better when it came to staff retention, with the average score being 3.8.