Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) earn on average 14.8 percent less than men, and the current average salary for men amounts to 1.894 BAM, while women earn an average of 1.614 BAM.
“According to data from the Plata.ba platform, the average monthly salary of men in the past year was 14.8 percent higher compared to women’s salaries. Unfortunately, this gap has not decreased, but a slight increase of 0.01% was recorded compared to the same period last year,” said Amila Jazic, brand and marketing manager at Alma Career BiH (within which operates the leading job advertisement portal in BiH – MojPosao.ba and the international salary research platform – Plata.ba).
She also pointed out that the analysis of wage differences by gender shows that men earn significantly higher incomes in as many as twenty occupation categories, while women are better paid in only eight.
The biggest differences in favor of men are noticeable in sectors such as wood processing, construction and real estate, auxiliary and low-skilled jobs, the chemical industry, IT, marketing, advertising and PR, mechanical engineering, journalism and media, security, insurance, agriculture, the food industry, translation jobs, and the service industry, says Jazic.
On the other hand, she adds, women achieve higher average earnings in areas such as banking, pharmacy, leasing, human resources, senior management, manufacturing, and even in the category of mining and metallurgy.
At the beginning of this year, MojPosao.ba, in cooperation with Deloitte BiH, presented the results of the research “Women in the business world in BiH.” This analysis provides valuable insights into the perception of the roles of women and men in the business environment, comparing data from 2019 and 2024 with the aim of identifying key factors contributing to gender inequality.
According to the results, 86 percent of respondents believe that women should be represented in leadership positions, while 67 percent believe that women need additional support and encouragement to take on leadership roles.
Although women are recognized for their ability to face business challenges, implement strategies, and effectively manage human resources, they still face prejudice. As many as 60 percent of respondents believe that women are paid less than their male colleagues in the same positions, and 87 percent believe that women have to put in extra effort to prove themselves at the same hierarchical level.
A positive shift in the research is reflected in a slight decrease in the perception of gender inequality regarding salaries and layoffs. Namely, the number of respondents who believe that women are more often the first on the layoff list has decreased by 6 percent compared to 2019. Also, in 2019, 66 percent of respondents believed that women in leadership positions earned less than men, while in 2024 that number dropped to 60 percent.
These results point to increasing awareness of the gender gap and the need for continuous work on gender equality in BiH.
One of the biggest challenges remains balancing professional and private obligations. More than 85 percent of respondents state that women still often receive questions about family planning during job interviews, which indicates the existence of discriminatory practices in hiring.
Flexible working conditions and programs for balancing work and private life have been highlighted as key factors for improving the position of women in the business world.
