LONDON, September 9 /PRNewswire/ --

- Survey Compares Workplace Equality in the U.S. and Seven European Countries: Female Workers in Germany are the Most Likely of Workers Surveyed to Report Wage Discrimination, Female Workers in the Netherlands are the Least Likely

The Battle of the Sexes continues in the workplace according to a new survey from CareerBuilder.co.uk. Although employers are increasingly introducing programs to promote equality, 30 per cent of female workers in the United Kingdom say they feel they are paid less than their counterparts of the opposite sex with the same skills and qualifications. Thirteen per cent of men in the UK say they feel they are paid less than their female counterparts. The CareerBuilder.co.uk survey, "Workplace Equality," included more than 3,700 workers across seven European countries and also surveyed workers in the United States.

Overall, 38 per cent of the female European workers surveyed, believe they experience pay discrimination when compared to their male counterparts with the same qualifications. Female workers in Germany (45 per cent) were the most likely of those surveyed to report wage discrimination and women in the Netherlands (28 per cent) were the least likely to report wage discrimination.

Per cent of women workers who say they are paid less than their male counterparts with the same skills and qualifications:

-- Germany 45 per cent -- France: 43 per cent -- Italy: 36 per cent -- Sweden: 35 per cent -- United Kingdom: 30 per cent -- Spain: 30 per cent -- Netherlands: 28 per cent -- United States: 34 per cent -- Europe Overall: 38 per cent

Other Areas of Discrimination

Pay isn't the only area where women say they are experiencing discrimination. Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of female workers in the UK say they have fewer career advancement opportunities than their counterparts of the opposite sex with the same skills and qualifications, 17 per cent say they get fewer training and learning opportunities and 12 per cent say they have less workplace flexibility.

Comparing countries, female workers in the Netherlands are the least likely of those surveyed to feel discrimination when it comes to career advancement and female workers in the Italy are the most likely to report this type of discrimination.

Per cent of women workers who say they have fewer career advancement opportunities than their counterparts of the opposite sex with the same skills and qualifications:

-- Italy: 50 per cent -- France: 43 per cent -- Germany: 40 per cent -- Spain: 34 per cent -- Sweden: 27 per cent -- United Kingdom: 24 per cent -- Netherlands: 20 per cent -- United States: 26 per cent -- Europe Overall: 37 per cent

"While female workers in the UK reported less discrimination than European workers overall, there is still much work to be done to promote equality in the workplace," said Tony Roy, Managing Director of CareerBuilder.co.uk. "Companies recognise the competitive advantage a diverse workforce provides and are placing more emphasis on recruitment and retention practices that encourage equality."

Perceptions of Discrimination

When asked to what they attribute getting paid less and/or having fewer career advancement opportunities than their male counterparts, 36 per cent of UK women say men tend to be more aggressive in their compensation negotiations. More than one-third (34 per cent) of women say management tends to show favoritism to members of the opposite sex and 27 per cent say men tend to schmooze more with the boss. Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of women workers in the UK say men tend to get better or more high profile projects and 18 per cent say men are perceived as needing to have more money to support their families.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the US, respectively, by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 3,711 employees from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom (sample sizes per country range from 337 to 656), and 7,960 employees from the US (employed full-time; not self-employed and non government) ages 18 and over between May 22, and June 27, 2008. Based on the pure probability of each country's sample size, one could say with a 95 per cent probability that the respective sampling error per non-US country range from 3.83 to 5.34 per centage points, and +/- 1.1 per centage points for the US. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder.co.uk

CareerBuilder UK is one of the most visited online job sites in the United Kingdom, with more than one million unique visitors in June 2008, according to comScore. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), CareerBuilder.co.uk powers the career centres for more than 160 individual UK sites that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. Job seekers visit CareerBuilder.co.uk every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic e-mail job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. For more information about CareerBuilder products and services, visit http://www.careerbuilder.co.uk.

Media Contact: CareerBuilder.co.uk Tanya Flynn +1-773-527-1164 Mobile: +1-773-607-9663 Tanya.Flynn@careerbuilder.com Web site: http://www.careerbuilder.com http://www.careerbuilder.co.uk

Tanya Flynn of CareerBuilder.co.uk, +1-773-527-1164 +1-773-607-9663, Mobile, Tanya.Flynn@careerbuilder.com