The pandemic is damaging the progress towards gender equality at work. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Global Gender Gap Report, 5% of employed women lost their job compared to 3.9% of men, and less women were hired into executive or senior roles in 2020.*

Through my experience as a founder of a solutions-based platform for gender balance at work, I got to know of initiatives that I think can help companies close the gap caused by the pandemic faster and potentially accelerate gender equality at work as a result.

What can companies do to support women at work? How can companies take gender equality to the next level beyond the pandemic? Here are 5 ways companies can let women thrive in the workplace:

1. Train for employment in high-growth sectors

Many jobs in industries where women are over-represented like hospitality, food services and retail, vanished as a result of lockdown measures. Companies in growing sectors like the technology industry could take this opportunity to gender diversify their workforce by reinvesting their profits in dedicated certification programs for women. Women can be placed directly into roles at the company and be mentored the first months after the completion of the program. This could be an opportunity for women to start a career in a high growth sector.

2. Offer reintroduction programs

Women who temporaritly left the workforce during the pandemic (or women who were on maternity leave for instance) can be offered back to work programs by their company. The goal of those programs is to bring people up to speed again faster about the business, the company’s products and make the reintroduction of employees easier and successful. It is also a way for companies to attract new talent. It’s intereting to note that Path Forward has reported that over 80% of the participants involved in a returnship initiative have been hired by the companies where they completed them.**

3. Eliminate bias against the pandemic unemployment gap

Female candidates who have an unemployment gap on their resumes due to the pandemic will face bias when applying for jobs. Those women may be “viewed as unambitious or lacking skills and have a 45% lower chance of receiving interviews than those without them.”**

How to remove bias against this gap? Bias can be removed if all actors of the hiring process play their part:

1. Companies to encourage women to be open about the pandemic resume gap.
2. Companies in return should communicate clearly and openly that they are committed to bringing women back and won’t discriminate those who had to take time away,
3. Managers in companies have to be informed about and trained by the organization to remove their biases and focus on experience and skills set of the candidates only,
4. Talent Acquisition need to make sure that talent pools of candidates are gender diverse in teams where women had to take time away resulting into an unbalanced workforce.

4. Create an inclusive company culture

The right company culture is necessary for women to succeed especially in times of the pandemic. Here are a few examples of arrangements that companies might want to consider:

Work-life balance

A work culture that actively encourages a work-life balance is essential. Booking meetings during business hours, preventing unnecessary work on the weekends, and staffing teams properly are a few examples of measures that are especially beneficial to support women at work. Not to forget the very importance of creating easy access to childcare (which should be a shared responsibility of countries and companies).

Mental health benefits

A company could cultivate and create safe spaces for women, for example by supporting employee resource groups and communication channels where women can talk about their experiences. Also, offering mental-health counseling could be part of the package.***

Flexible and inclusive parental leave

The adoption of flexible parental-leave policies by expanding paid leave for all sorts of parents (men, LGBT and parents who adoptive parents). On one hand it allows women to enjoy a better work life balance, on the other hand it helps all sort of parents to be better included into parenting. Also both parents can continue their careers at the same time. Nationale Nederlanden, a Dutch insurance company, is an example of a company that is already offering flexible parental leave to all sort of parents.

5. Empower your leaders from the top down

All possible initiatives to let women succeed need the direct support of top management. Executives have to understand that improving working conditions for women inside their companies can lead to improved employee retention and better business resilience and continuity, and as a result, lead to better business outcomes. They are the ones who can take the lead from the top down and make it work. A way to make it happen is to organize regular Diversity & Inclusion trainings for executives and managers of the organization.

To conclude

Shouldn’t we take this opportunity to take women at work to the next level and shape the future of female leadership? Sure we do!

All initiatives to accelerate women at work that were a nice to have became a necessity for companies to survive and thrive during the pandemic and it eventually will bring gender equality further and faster. Now, let’s make it work!

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Notes :

*4 ‘big bets’ to close the post pandemic gender gap, World Economic Forum,Douglas Broom, 2021 March 31

**5 Ways to bring women back into the post-pandemic workforce, Harvard Business Review, Mita Mallick, 2021 February 8.

***Why we must design a stronger post-pandemic workplace for women, Fast Company, Whitney Benner, 2021 March 18.

References :

4 ‘big bets’ to close the post pandemic gender gap, World Economic Forum,Douglas Broom, 2021 March 31

Global Gender Gap report 2021, World Economic Forum, Multiple, 2021 March 31

Women in Work Index 2021, The impact of Covid-19 on Women at Work, PWC, Multiple, 2021 March

Why we must design a stronger post-pandemic workplace for women, Fast Company, Whitney Benner, 2021 March 18.

Creating a postpandemic recovery for women in the workplace podcast, Diane Brady, Alexis Krivkovich and Lareina Yee, McKinsey & Co, 2021 March 8

5 Ways to bring women back into the post-pandemic workforce, Harvard Business Review, Mita Mallick, 2021 February 8.

OECD Gender Data Portal, OECD, Multiple, 2021