When you think of the tech sector, pay equity might not be the first thing that comes to mind. Despite the progress many companies are trying to make, women still hold fewer than one in four roles in Aotearoa’s professional IT sector, and the gender pay gap remains one of the highest in any industry, sitting at 15% or more in professional services, compared to the national median gap of 8.2%.

Brightly, a purpose-driven tech company, decided to do something about it. Founded by two male co-founders, they knew achieving gender balance wouldn’t happen by accident. And they weren’t just interested in feel-good metrics; they were determined to turn intention into action.

Why pay equity matters

For Brightly, building a diverse, equitable workplace isn’t a PR exercise. It’s core to their business. Working with purpose-led organisations across Aotearoa means they want their team to reflect the communities they serve. Diverse teams ask better questions, make better decisions, and create more inclusive solutions.

That’s why they’ve focused so heavily on representation and pay equity, and it’s working.

In May 2025, they reached a major milestone:

• A 50/50 gender split across their team

• A median pay gap 18% lower than the market average

How LiveRem supports their journey

To keep themselves accountable and track their progress in real time, Brightly uses LiveRem - a platform that connects directly to payroll data and provides up-to-date benchmarking across thousands of anonymised salary datapoints.

Unlike traditional salary surveys that are often months out of date, LiveRem lets companies like Brightly:

• Identify pay gaps quickly

• Track change over time

• Benchmark roles against live market data

• Evaluate their recruitment, progression, and pay transparency policies

LiveRem’s dashboards and tools give leaders confidence that they’re not just guessing — they’re making data-backed decisions aligned with both their values and business goals.

“LiveRem helps us back ourselves in pay conversations, make better decisions for our team, and track our progress without heavy admin.” — Brightly Team

Business can be a force for progress

Brightly’s story is a powerful reminder that pay equity is possible, even in industries where the odds feel stacked. And while they acknowledge that small team sizes can make their stats more volatile, they also know transparency is essential.

They’re not claiming to have it all figured out, but by sharing their data and committing to real-time accountability, they’re showing others what’s possible.

Want to track pay equity in your organisation?

LiveRem makes it easy to get started, whether you’re a small team like Brightly or a larger enterprise with complex workforce structures. With real-time benchmarking, compa ratios, pay gap analysis, and custom dashboards, you’ll gain the insights needed to lead confidently.

You can read more about how Brightly uses LiveRem here.