Making gender equity real – how Phocas measured progress in 2025

Phocas has reported a 4% gender pay gap in favour of women for 2025, continuing a positive trend since 2021 when the gap was 10% in favour of men. The result follows our achievement of gender pay equity in 2024.

Carolyn Viso, Chief People and Sustainability Officer at Phocas reflects that while it’s certainly an achievement to be celebrated, we remain focused on the work still ahead.

“We’re proud to be pulling our weight and more in an industry that still has a long way to go. Our purpose isn’t just to report a number at year-end. It’s to embed fairness into every micro decision. Then let the data show what our values of fun, fulfilling, forever look like in practice.”

Steady progress, lasting change

In 2024, Phocas set a goal of increasing the number of women in technical and leadership roles. We can now report that 43.6% of our leadership roles are held by women, up from 41.4% last year. Additionally, we’ve maintained equal representation of men and women working part-time, which continues to challenge traditional role norms and supports choice and flexibility.

While the broader tech industry still shows a pay gap around –15 % (in favour of men), Phocas’ result reflects a culture where fairness and opportunity are built into how our business grows and leads.

How we got there

Equity is considered in every part of the Phocas employee experience; from hiring and remuneration to career development and performance reviews.

Our people are encouraged to question assumptions, look at data objectively and ensure fairness in every conversation. These practices have been built into everyday operations, supported by open discussions about career progression and pay transparency.

These aren’t headline-grabbing gestures but the sum of many small actions that add up. The end result is simply the data telling us we’re heading in the right direction.

What it means

Having a pay gap in favour of women is a significant step in our journey of equity. It means that compensation outcomes, leadership representation and job design are working together to level the playing field.

From a workforce perspective it supports retention, inclusion and a culture where people feel valued. From a business perspective it strengthens our platform; when people across all levels have fair access to reward and leadership, we operate smarter, innovate better and grow stronger.

For our industry (and beyond) it shows that progress is possible. For us, it affirms that data can feel good when it reflects people, not just numbers. As Myles Glashier, Phocas CEO explained,

“It’s not about hitting a number, but doing the right thing every day. This result is another milestone in a long-term journey of inclusion, growth and performance.”

Continuing the journey

We’re proud of this outcome, but we’re not done. We’ll continue to lead into the future with:

• Ongoing review of leadership pipelines, technical roles and development opportunities for women
• Maintaining flexibility in role design including part-time and hybrid work, ensuring these are genuine choices not compromises
• Embedding equity thinking into every decision, every process and every policy, so that micro decisions remain aligned with our values
• Transparent reporting and tracking of progress so that we hold ourselves accountable as we grow

Phocas’ ongoing commitment to equity and inclusion contributed to our recent B Corp recertification, reaffirming our commitment to high standards of social and environmental impact.

B Corp certification assesses how a business treats its people, community and the planet, and Phocas achieved strong results in the workforce category, reflecting a culture built on fairness, empowerment and shared progress.Our gender equity result for 2025 reinforces that sustainable progress is achieved through consistent action and accountability.

As Phocas grows globally, it remains focused on creating an environment where people can do their best work and feel valued for it – keeping our purpose clear: to make people feel good about data.