Carrie Gracie is just the beginning – when gender pay gaps are published this year, prepare for mass walkouts and worse

An early April deadline for all companies in the UK with at least 250 employees to publish a breakdown of their gender pay gap is creeping closer, and this weekend we were offered a taste of what might just happen as a result of that imminent big reveal.

Carrie Gracie, China editor at the BBC, tendered her resignation from her high-powered role in an explosive letter accusing the already-under-fire broadcaster of fostering a “secretive and illegal” pay culture and discriminating against women.

It’s certainly not the first time a brave woman has snubbed her company as a result of perceived discrimination, but arguably it’s one of the most high-profile cases in recent years. We should not be surprised if it emboldens more people to speak out – even walk out – especially once the full, ugly extent of the national chasm is presented to us, in black and white, in a few months’ time.

Perhaps then we’ll finally realise that we’re not just talking about salaries here, but about holistic workplace culture, overarching trust in corporate Britain, UK productivity and, ultimately, the national economy in its glorious entirety.

Public relations and communications consultancy Golin late last year surveyed over 1,000 senior professionals and business decision-makers in the UK and found that regulations around gender pay gap reporting pose a major threat to the reputation of companies and to the commitment and loyalty of their workforces.

Over three-quarters of those questioned said that companies may have to brace for a staff exodus over gender pay gap concerns, and 73 per cent said that those organisations admitting to a particularly stark disparity will likely struggle to recruit in future.

Perhaps most shockingly, over a third of respondents said that they feel the issue of the gap could be even more toxic to corporate culture than tax avoidance, and 39 per cent of all female respondents admitted that they would actually consider leaving a firm if it were to report what they deem to be a “problematic gender pay gap”.

I’m convinced – and thoroughly hope – that there are principled, upright and plucky Carrie Gracies in all UK companies. And as Jane Fielding, an employment partner at law firm Gowling WLG says, I hope that what’s happened at the BBC succeeds in reminding us that this “could happen to any employer”.

But I’m not sure it will. Many of our businesses are stuck in the Dark Ages, still refusing to admit there’s a problem at all. The ostrich approach has worked up until now. But let’s make sure that procrastination and ignorance have a shelf-life.

Of course, as Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality Party, reminds us, not every woman has the luxury of being financially capable of simply walking away from a job, but employers should be just as concerned about the furious women who have to stay despite feeling maltreated.

The UK is facing a productivity crisis, exacerbated by the fact that many companies clearly seem to be facing a morale crisis. As a business, having a substantial chunk of your female workforce throw in the towel would be devastating – but if the same proportion sticks around while demonstrating anger, despondency and a crippling lack of motivation, the effect could be equally destructive.

We know that the gender pay gap reports across the UK are going to be gaping and embarrassing. Some companies have already published their data and confirmed as much, but perhaps some of our surprise at Carrie Gracie’s actions is testament to the fact that we’re still not taking the whole issue as seriously as we should be.

Companies should consider the next three months a protracted and deafening wake-up call that has actually been going on for years. When that’s silenced, there’s no use complaining about all the angry women. And don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.