Sundar Pichai
Google chief executive Sundar Pichai and his Silicon Valley counterparts are doing what they can to close the industry’s pay gap between men and women.

SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — In the U.S., women are paid 20 percent less than men in the workforce. According to the American Association of University Women, at the current rate, national pay equity will not be achieved until 2152.

Earnings ratios of course vary from state to state, and student debt has been contributing to the lack of progress. Statistically, the pay gap for women of color is even worse — black women make 37 percent less and Hispanic women are paid 46 percent less than whites.

The ratios also vary by industry, and the tech sector has significant progress to make. According to an evaluation by Hired, female candidates in the field are offered an average of four percent less than their male counterparts, and “63 percent of the time women receive lower salary offers than men for the same job at the same company.”

Equal Pay Day, which was celebrated nationally in the U.S. on Tuesday, aims to raise the awareness of this issue. In honor of the day, Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, who is also the founder of Lean In, launched the #20percentCounts campaign via the organization. Lean In partnered with other companies to offer 20 percent discounts and raise awareness through social media. Companies participating include LUNA, Lyft and P&G.

“Equal pay is essential to the goal of gender equality,” Sandberg says in a news release about the campaign. “This issue speaks to how we value women’s labor, knowledge, time, training, and so much more. In short, it’s about women’s worth. There’s nothing more fundamental than that.”

Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce, spent close to $3 million to close the company’s pay gap. And he just announced that will spend another $3 million this year to advance the goal.

“I’m proud of the strong stance we’re taking as a company and of the hard work that has gone into building our approach to equal pay. We are on a journey to improving equality at Salesforce,” wrote Salesforce Executive Cindy Robbins in a blog post.

Have a look at what Google and its chief executive, Sundar Pichai, did below: