This is the date women will stop earning their annual salaries compared to men

Simon Brown, Cooper Lomaz managing director Picture: Alison McKenny (Image: www.alisonmckennyphotography.com)

The gender pay disparity is so large in sectors such as accounting, engineering, food engineering, IT and marketing sectors in the region, women are effectively working for free if they were paid the same amount as their male counterparts.

MORE: Senior management shake up at Aviva as new chief exec settles inThe data has been collected by recruitment agency Cooper Lomaz, which interviewed 2,800 individuals across the East of England.

Simon Brown, managing director of the Norwich-based recruiters, said: 'This year we've discussed in more detail some challenging and thought-provoking trends.

'There are insight and analysis within the report which I suspect will make some feel uncomfortable, challenged and even possibly lead to difficult conversations. However, I believe that such debate is good for business, good for employees and ultimately good for the region.'

Of the businesses the agency works with across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridge, women earned just 72% of the salaries of their male counterparts.

When breaking this down into high-level salaries to lower levels, only 28% of women in these industries earned £50,000 or more.

The survey also revealed that the gender pay gap is much less stark when people are already in an organisation, with just a 2% pay gap between male and female for those promoted internally.

The report also revealed that although salary had a major impact on job satisfaction, so did training.

Of the respondents, 95% of those saying they were 'very satisfied' citing that they were getting the training they need.

90% of those who said they were 'very dissatisfied' said they didn't receive enough training or were 'unsure' and 69% of those who were 'dissatisfied' said the same.

Mr Brown added: 'In producing this annual report our goal is simple; to provide an unrivalled and unbiased insight into recruitment trends from the past twelve months from across our region.'

One area which Mr Brown's team identified as being a strong area for growth was the IT sector. The report predicts that 2019 will see Digi-Tech start-ups in Norfolk outstrip Suffolk and Cambridge in terms of growth.