In 2014, female private sector employees earned on average 14% less per hour than men. The "explained" part of this gender wage gap was 6 points. This was due to the fact that the characteristics of women employees are not the same as for men: essentially, they are more often in less favourable socioprofessional positions in less profitable sectors of activity. If these characteristics were comparable, the gender wage gap would nevertheless still be 8 points. This "unexplained differential" is largely related to the lesser value placed on women’s professional experience. It has declined since 1995.

In addition to the sector and the productive characteristics of their wages, enterprises play a dual role in the gender wage gap. These inequalities may result from a concentration of women in the least profitable enterprises (inter-enterprise segregation) or appear within an enterprise when men and women employees are not paid in the same way for the same productivity (intra-enterprise inequalities). On average, for all employees, one tenth of the average hourly wage gender gap is the result of inter-enterprise segregation, while intra-enterprise inequalities have virtually no effect on this differential. However, half of the gender pay gap for managers results from intra-enterprise inequalities, which could be interpreted as a consequence of negotiation mechanisms.