Tracking pay equity at Brightly with LiveRem
When Brightly was founded, we knew the odds weren’t exactly in our favour when it came to achieving gender balance: Two male founders. A tech industry where women still hold fewer than 1 in 4 roles. A sector where the median pay gap can exceed 15%, significantly higher than the national average.
But we also knew we wanted to do our part to change things. Reaching gender equity wasn’t going to happen by accident, and it wasn’t just about hitting a feel-good metric.
We have seen firsthand how diverse perspectives lead to more inclusive thinking, deeper empathy, better questions and, therefore, better decisions. As a company working closely with purpose-driven organisations, we know that having voices and perspectives that reflect a broader range of experiences is essential to doing our best work.
In May 2025 we hit a milestone worth celebrating: An even gender split across our team (of those who identify as male and those who identify as female) and a median pay gap that is 18% lower than the market average.
While we acknowledge that it is easy for the stats to move in a small organisation like ours, we’re proud of this progress, and it’s something we’ll continue to measure and work on.
Why this conversation matters in tech
The numbers speak for themselves:
Women make up only 23% of professional IT roles in Aotearoa
In professional services (which includes tech), the median gender pay gap sits at 15% or higher
That’s far above the national median gap of 8.2%
The sector not only lacks gender diversity but often undervalues the women who are in it. Improving these stats requires action from the inside, and we believe every company has a role to play.
Partnering with LiveRem to keep ourselves accountable
We’ve been using LiveRem, an Aotearoa-based platform that helps businesses measure, benchmark and track pay equity.
LiveRem makes it easier to see where gaps exist, and the insights we've gained have helped us evaluate our recruitment and progression pathways, policy development and pay transparency.
LiveRem connects directly to our payroll system and benchmarks our data against anonymised information from other businesses, so we can continually see how we’re tracking. As opposed to static salary surveys, the data is always up-to-date.
It helps us:
Feel confident we’re paying fairly and competitively
Back ourselves in pay conversations with data
Make better decisions for both our people and our budget
Leading by example for an equitable future
Across many industries — from tech to healthcare — equity is till something people have to fight for. While some recent policy decisions have felt like a step backwards, we believe business can be a force for progress. Reaching gender parity on our team isn’t the finish line, but the more transparent we are about where we are at, the more we can contribute to the shift we all want to see.