Gender Pay Gap

Coillte CGA published its third Gender Pay Gap Report in December 2024. A gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly pay and bonuses of all men compared to the average hourly pay and bonuses of all women employees across an organisation. Coillte’s mean gender pay gap decreased from -14.34% in 2023 to -13.33% in 2024 in favour of women.

This change was driven by three key factors:

1. The number of retirements in 2024 increased versus the number of retirements in 2023. Many of these retirees have chosen to avail of one-year post-retirement fixed-term contracts, which come with reduced hours which directly affect their pay levels.
2. An increase in the number of women advancing in their careers at Coillte in 2024.
3. An increase in the number of female hires into the organisation. New employees generally start at the lower end of the pay scale, narrowing the overall pay gap

Also in 2024, MEDITE SMARTPLY published its first ever Gender Pay Gap Report. The mean gender pay gap for 2024 is 27.6% in favour of men. The main drivers behind this pay gap are:

• Traditionally the industry has attracted a higher proportion of male employees than female. Similarly, the nature of a 24/7 manufacturing tends to attract fewer females. Overall, there is a higher male employee population (86.6%). Through succession over the course of time, 92% of the top quartile earners are male.
• Approximately 50% of employees work on shift cycle, earning a shift premium of up to 33% above base hourly rate. Most of these shift workers are male (98%).
• There is higher female participation at the entry level positions e.g. Apprentice roles and
  Graduates. The increase in female employees at entry level has lowered the average rate of female pay and is causing the gap to widen.

• The inclusion of professional forestry on the national Critical Skills Occupations List is a
  crucial step towards attracting more diverse talent to the forestry sector. This will help address gender imbalances and contribute to narrowing the gender pay gap.
• A National Forest Training and Education Forum was established, involving educators,
  professional bodies and industry groups, providing a platform for the development of an
  education and training strategy for the forestry sector.
• A new digital experience was developed aimed at highlighting careers in forestry to students in second-level education

 

Promoting Gender Balance

Coillte is focused on diversifying its workforce to achieve greater gender balance by increasing the representation of women working in the organisation and by increasing the number of women both studying and working in forestry more broadly. Significant efforts led to an increase in female hires, with women making up 42% of new recruits in 2024, up from 31% in 2023.Coillte has continued to expand its graduate programme to include finance, ecology, and
engineering streams with a direct focus on increasing gender diversity and on highlighting the wide variety of roles available in the organisation. This has created a more diverse pool of individuals forging careers across different sections of the organisation.

Coillte and MEDITE SMARTPLY aim is to continue to narrow the gender pay gap and increase the diversity of the workforce in terms of age, background, nationality and experience, as well as diversity of gender.

Promoting Forestry as a Career

In 2024, steps were taken to promote Coillte and the forestry industry more broadly to a wider pool of applicants including:

• Leveraging existing strong relationships with local schools and colleges which resulted
  in apprenticeship programmes in MEDITE SMARTPLY attracting a more diverse pool of local school students into traineeships.
• Coillte proactively profiled employees and roles in forestry in media.
• Coillte continues to have a presence at recruitment fairs and higher options exhibitions.

DEI and Inclusive Leadership

Coillte has a DEI Committee made up of a voluntary group of staff who meet quarterly to review DEI policies and practices, plan DEI-focused initiatives and review impact on company culture. The committee works closely with human resources and reports quarterly to the Operating Executive.In 2024, the DEI Committee ran a series of initiatives across five workstreams (Ability & Inclusion, International Women’s Day, Pride, Green Ribbon Campaign and International Men’s Day).Coillte also continued its Ability Campaign in 2024 to raise awareness and acceptance of people with all different levels of abilities in Coillte and to support those with challenges, both visible and invisible. The campaign included training on positive mental health and wellbeing at work as well as partnerships with the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities and Open Doors. Coillte was also awarded the Investors in Diversity Bronze accreditation by the Irish Centre for Diversity.Coillte conducts an annual survey to measure the proportion of employees who define themselves as having a disability. In 2021, 1.9% of staff classified themselves as having a disability. This increased to 3.36% in 2022, and to 3.91% in 2023. In 2024, 6.4% of employees identify as having a disability and this compares favourably to Coillte’s current statutory
requirement in terms of colleagues declaring a disability. In the most recent survey, the percentage of employees that answered “Coillte welcomes people of different abilities” increased from 60% in 2023 to 86% in 2024.In addition, Coillte is a signatory to the Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI) inclusive workplace Elevate Pledge.