Equal Pay Day: Men achieve twice the salary increase of women when changing jobs

Press release
Equal Pay Day: Men achieve twice the salary increase of women when changing jobs

• Structural disparity: On median, men achieve a 10% salary increase when changing jobs, women only 5%
• Stepstone survey shows: Around 60% of employees feel uncomfortable in salary negotiations
• More routine creates a power imbalance: Managers enter negotiations far more confidently than specialists

Düsseldorf, February 23, 2026 – On average, changing jobs brings employees in Germany a salary increase of 8%. However, this step often pays off significantly less for women than for men. This is shown by a recent survey of 297 recruiters and 3,070 employees conducted as part of the current Stepstone Salary Report. While men make significant jumps when moving to a new employer, the increase for women is considerably lower at the median. A key reason for this wage gap: many employees perceive salary negotiations as stressful – a discomfort that occurs significantly more often among women than among their male colleagues.

“Salary negotiations currently do not act as a balancing mechanism, but rather as a structural amplifier of inequality. As long as the negotiation environment creates unequal conditions, ‘equal pay’ has a systemic problem,” says Anna Wittich, labor market researcher at The Stepstone Group.

The gap widens further when changing jobs

Changing employers is generally considered the biggest lever for achieving a higher salary. On average, it brings an increase of 8%, while internal salary increases only result in 4% more pay according to the Salary Report. However, the analysis reveals a measurable imbalance. Looking at median values, men achieve a salary increase of around 10% when changing jobs, while women receive only 5% more. This makes a job change twice as lucrative for men as for women. Instead of closing the pay gap, a professional restart thus becomes an amplifier of the gender pay gap.

Those who feel uncomfortable in negotiations achieve less

Subjective comfort in negotiation situations is a decisive factor for success. However, salary negotiations are a stressful situation for most employees. Around 60% feel somewhat or very uncomfortable. This discomfort is directly reflected in the results: while around 45% of those who generally feel comfortable in negotiations received a raise in the past year, this was true for only about 33% of employees who feel uncomfortable in such situations.

One reason for this pressure is the clear power imbalance at the negotiation table: while specialists often enter the conversation feeling uncertain, managers are far more likely to report feeling confident in negotiation situations. This creates an additional disadvantage for employees and further reinforces existing inequalities.
“How comfortable people feel in negotiations is a question of routine and the distribution of power. When one side appears confident and the other is under pressure, this reinforces existing hierarchies,” explains Wittich.

Between generational change and EU reform: transparency is gaining importance
A look at the younger generation also shows a cultural shift: employees under 30 speak far more naturally about their income than older age groups and demand greater openness around salary issues, Wittich observes: “More transparency can prevent salary negotiations from further widening existing differences. Clear salary information and transparent structures help employees realistically assess their market value and enter discussions better informed. At the same time, transparent criteria strengthen fairness within companies,” says Wittich.

With the EU Pay Transparency Directive, which must be transposed into German law in 2026, companies will in future be required to disclose salary structures and define objective criteria for compensation decisions. Applicants are to receive information about the starting salary or salary ranges before signing a contract. In addition, the directive generally obliges companies with 100 or more employees to report on the gender pay gap. However, the exact implementation depends on national legislation.

About the Stepstone Salary Report 2026
The Stepstone Salary Report 2026 is based on one of the largest salary databases in Germany, containing salary data by location and region, occupational group, industry, work experience and more. The 2026 Salary Report is representative of the working population at federal and state level according to the criteria of age, gender, university degree and economic sector. Salary figures are not directly comparable with previous years due to changes in the evaluation methodology and the composition of the sample.

About the Stepstone Salary Survey 2026
To capture attitudes and experiences related to salary, Stepstone surveyed 297 recruiters and 3,070 employees in Germany between November 14 and 18, 2025. The survey focused on salary satisfaction, transparency, perceived pay structures, and companies’ preparation for the upcoming EU Pay Transparency Directive. The sample was weighted according to the microcensus and is representative of the German working population by age, gender and education.

Gender Pay Gap
The stated gender pay gap refers to the unadjusted pay gap, in which many salary-related parameters such as professional experience and educational background are combined. The unadjusted figure compares male and female employees as overall groups. It is understood as the difference in annual salary between men and women relative to men’s salary. However, a large proportion of salary differences between men and women can be explained by other influencing factors, such as age, industry, occupational group, education, professional experience, company size, federal state, city and personnel responsibility. If these factors are considered in a calculation model, the adjusted gender pay gap results. It can be interpreted as the salary difference between two individuals who are identical in all considered characteristics except gender.

About The Stepstone Group 
The Stepstone Group is a leading global digital recruitment platform that connects companies with the right talent and helps people find the right job. AI-driven job marketplaces and programmatic-powered marketing solutionsconnect more than 130 million job applications with about 130,000 employers every year. The Stepstone Group operates in more than 10 countries - including Stepstone in Germany, Appcast in the USA and Totaljobs in the UK. The company is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany and employs about 3,000 people worldwide. For more information: www.thestepstonegroup.com/english

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