A recent study by Working Families, in partnership with Pinsent Masons, reveals that lower-income working parents in the UK face challenges due to the high cost of childcare. The research indicates that these parents are more likely to reduce their working hours, quit their jobs, or go into debt to manage childcare needs. Women and […]
The UK’s gender pay gap has widened as sharp increases in the cost of childcare has worsened a “motherhood penalty”, pricing many women out of work altogether, according to a new report. The nation’s average pay gap widened by 2.4 percentage points to 14.4 per cent in 2021, accountancy giant PwC found in its Women in Work index. It […]
Government efforts to boost Britain’s workforce should focus on supporting more mothers into work, and helping older workers and those with a disability stay in work, rather than persuading the large Covid cohort of older workers to ‘unretire’, according to new Resolution Foundation research published. The issue of workforce participation has come to a head […]
Hays’ Sandra Henke explores how embracing intersectionality can help employers improve the experience of all employees. Diversity is not a linear issue. As companies seek to be representative of the communities they operate in and that make up their workforce, many still consider their diversity efforts in distinct, singular characteristics. For example, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality […]
Women returners are a huge benefit for businesses, it's foolish to overlook them. Time and time again I hear leaders spurt baseless notions that spread like wildfire. None quite as damaging as this; the belief that women who take a career break are not fit to re-enter the workforce. Deeply embedded misconceptions and falsehoods have […]
In the expansion of diversity efforts at work, one term is seemingly everywhere: caregiver. A recent survey by workplace equity platform Syndio finds that workers with caregiving responsibilities are the fastest-growing category of employee identity groups, with 12% of companies tracking them as such. Like so many current workplace trends, this, too, is rooted in the […]
The latest survey report, Workplace support for employees experiencing pregnancy or baby loss, from the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, identifies a big gap in current support for employees. Just 25% of employees who have experienced pregnancy or baby loss received paid compassionate or other special leave from their employer (in […]
The government shows little sign of getting to grips with the childcare crisis that is seeing nursery workers leave the sector and female employers forced to give up work to care for children for financial reasons. Prime minister Liz Truss's ambition to make economic growth a top priority won’t be achievable until the government solves the […]
The level of stress faced by more than half of working women (53%) is higher than a year ago, and 46% say they are exhausted, according to Deloitte's Women @ Work 2022 Study, conducted globally. Moreover, exhaustion (burnout) is one of the main reasons why women decide to resign (40%). More than half of the […]
In AppleTV's animated children’s series Pinecone & Pony, characters are designed to subvert and defy expectations. “You think a wizard has to look like Gandalf the Grey, but we wanted to show that, no, a wizard could look more like this. Or you see the really beefy muscular guy in the first episode wearing a flower […]
If we want to continue the advancement of women in the workplace, we must put policies in place and challenge the prevailing culture and status quo, just as our predecessors did. There are three main issues that stand out to me as some of the biggest barriers to the continued advancement of women: 1. Child […]
Our workplaces continue to evolve as we face the challenges brought by the ongoing effects of the pandemic, and as leaders, we have had to adapt to operational and employee experience challenges and continue to create workplaces that work for everyone, especially for people with disabilities. For this reason, Meg O'Connell, CEO of Global Disability Inclusion writes […]
Microsoft recently published an excellent report which feels very relevant as we continue to find our way in these hybrid working times. Key takeaways: 1 - Flexible working is here to stay 2 - Leaders are out of touch with employees and need a wake up call 3 - High productivity is masking an exhausted […]
A study by Public Library of Science (PLOS) analyzed the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment, a survey which measured the interests of 15-year-olds around the world (500,000 students / 80 countries) asking the question, “What kind of job do you expect to have when you are 30 years old?” The results show that, no matter […]
New research by Vodafone reveals the cost to businesses of having poor parental leave policies and the increased risk of losing/attracting top talent, with 25% of 18–34-year-olds not applying for jobs as a result of a perceived lack of support for parents. Vodafone’s Global Parental Leave Policy offers all non-birthing parents 16 weeks of fully paid leave, […]
