The gender gap in tech is costing the UK around £2 to £3.5 billion a year as women exit their tech roles, leaving either their jobs or the industry entirely over being underpaid, a lack of career progression, and a lack of recognition.

This is according to a new Lovelace Report from Oliver Wyman and WeAreTechWomen. Through a survey of over 500 women, a series of roundtables, and in-depth interviews with 20 senior women in tech, the report gathered real insight into why women are consistently leaving the tech industry, and what this is truly costing the UK when it comes to economic prosperity and their tech superpower ambitions.

The UK tech sector is short on 98,000 to 120,000 professionals, and will need to double or even triple this capacity to reach their AI, cybersecurity, and digital infrastructure needs.

Despite this need, between 40,000 and 60,000 women exit their roles in the UK’s tech and digital sectors.

This churn of women moving roles costs between £640 million and £1.3 billion a year in the UK, with those leaving the industry entirely taking between £1.4 billion and £2.2bn in lost economic value.

So, what’s driving women to leave tech? The research found that the reasons did not fit into the traditional myths touted that women exit the industry due to a lack of child care or insufficient role models.

A quarter (25%) cited a lack of career advancement, 17% said inadequate recognition, and 15% pointed to pay inequity. Others also pointed out toxic workplaces and a lack of support. Only 3% said caring duties were a reason for their career change.

The report found that women were consistently having their careers stalled at the mid-career range, when they should be reaching senior roles.

For women with 11 to 20 years of experience, over 75% have waited more than three years for a promotion.

For those with over 20 years of experience, nearly 40% have waited over five years for a promotion, far longer than the two-year average seen for men.

Beyond this, over 50% of women are being paid below the average for their level, despite 70% of them already investing in additional qualifications or leadership training.

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This lack of career progression is not for lack of want – 90% of women in tech want to move into management, though only 25% believe this will happen easily, citing unclear promotion pathways, a limitation on high-impact work, and the potential of being overlooked.

The Lovelace Report offered several suggestions on what teams could change to stop women from leaving their tech roles over these issues.

Tracking progression by gender metrics to intervene when individuals or teams are stalled in their career progression can be vital in dissuading resignation letters. This can be achieved by sponsorship and structured support.

Providing fair access to high-impact work can be done by matching talent to opportunity based on skills and potential, rather than rewarding proximity or familiarity. Auditing project allocations to flag and address bias can help mitigate this in the future.

Defining and embedding clear career maps – and enforcing these – can help women have a clearer picture of their work progression and pay benchmarks, ensuring equality is enforced, and enabling women to better advocate for themselves with strengthened transparency.