Fighting for Equal Pay Every Day!

Box is known for connecting people worldwide as the leading Intelligent Content Cloud platform -- and that's how we power our culture, too. No matter who you are, where you're from, or what brings you to Box, we welcome the authentic you here. In fact, one of our core values is “bring your ____ self to work!”

At Box, we know when women, people of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, and neurodivergent folks are paid fairly in the workplace and have equal opportunity to thrive, they can contribute to communities, economies, and society richly and robustly, benefitting us ALL. However, we know not every employer recognizes or rewards employees fairly and equally for their efforts. Many organizations around the world are advocating, educating, and championing equal pay for women, families, communities of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, and disabled workers. Gender stereotypes, racial discrimination, poverty, parenthood, and lack of parental support/child care infrastructure, all contribute to the systemic issues creating barriers to pay equity. The gaps are even larger for women of color, women with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ individuals.

As we celebrate U.S. Pride Month and recognize LGBTQIA+ Equal Pay Awareness Day on June 13, we wanted to bring visibility to the wage gap for LGBTQIA+ communities. According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. LGBTQIA+ workers earn an average of 90 cents* for every dollar that the typical worker earns. Nonbinary, and trans individuals earn even less, with trans women making a median earnings of 60 cents* for every dollar the typical worker earns. This is a stark contrast to cisgender women making 84 cents* for every dollar the typical worker earns. (*Those employed full time.)

The wage gap between LGBTQIA+ and non-LGBTQIA+ people is potentially even larger than what is reported by the HRC, as only full-time workers were included. Previous research has repeatedly found that LGBTQIA+ people are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed relative to their straight and cisgender peers. LGBTQIA+ adults in the United States, on average, fare worse economically than their straight and cisgender counterparts. About one in five LGBTQ+ adults in the United States (22%) live in poverty. Given that wages tie directly into poverty measures, the wage gaps are directly tied to the higher rates of poverty seen among LGBTQIA+ Americans, as well as help explain other instances of economic disparities seen among LGBTQIA+ adults, including increased risk for food insecurity, or an inability to afford food, as well as homelessness and housing insecurity.

So how do we ensure pay equality at Box?

We hold ourselves accountable to pay parity, which is why we signed the California Equal Pay Pledge. As part of our continued commitment, we conduct an annual companywide gender pay analysis on pay adjustments and promotion procedures to reduce unconscious bias and structural barriers to equitable compensation. In addition, we externally benchmark the compensation we provide for each role to ensure pay parity, and provide regular pay equity updates to our Compensation Committee. Our analyses indicate that we have pay equity across gender globally for employees in similar jobs, accounting for factors such as role, level and location.

How do we create equal opportunities to thrive at Box?

We create safe spaces for engagement, opportunities for networking and development, and promoting a culture of learning and allyship, to ensure the needs of underrepresented employees are top of mind. Our 11 Employee Resource Communities (ERCs) all work to advocate and drive forward the needs of their respective communities, such as hiring, retaining, and engaging diverse talent; advocating for health and wellness benefits related to their communities; and much more. Our Pride ERC recently teamed up with myGwork, the largest global business community of LGBTQ+ professionals, graduates, inclusive employers and anyone who believes in workplace equality. This collaboration is aimed at helping us increase our diverse candidate pipeline, while continuing to create a workplace where everyone can thrive, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Click here to see our Box profile!

In addition, we assess our job descriptions, removing any unconscious bias in our language and criteria; post open positions making opportunities available to all employees; consider diverse candidate slates for all open roles; and track the internal mobility of underrepresented groups at Box.  Our Box mentoring program provides coaching, advice and a sounding board to help Boxers navigate their career, develop their skills and follow their dreams. We have flexible work arrangements to provide Boxers with the space they need to juggle work and life. We provide inclusive benefits, regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity, from reproductive and gender affirming care, to adoption benefits and mental health support - and so much more. And we have received external recognition for these efforts, including being recognized as one of the top 100 companies of the PEOPLE® Companies that Care, the Women Impact Tech 100 companies in 2023, and received a 95 out of 100 on the 2023 Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index.

While there is still a lot of work to do, by working together to support LGBTQIA+-owned, women-owned, and people of color-owned businesses, participating in your company’s diversity initiatives, advocating for policy and process changes that support pay equality, and raising visibility on pay equity issues, we can take actionable steps towards pay equity today - and every day!