“The truth about shared household responsibilities, demanding flexibility at work, and hybrid setups –
Over the weekend, I read Deloitte’s Women@Work Report which surveyed 5000 women across 10 countries. Here’s part 2 of my summary, in case you are not a fan of 40-page documents.
- HOUSEHOLD RESPONSIBILITIES 🏡
I want to tell you about the vicious circle this report has highlighted –
▶ 88% of respondents work full-time. Nearly half of them are primarily responsible for their household.
▶ Only 10% of them said that the responsibilities fall on their partners.
▶ 1 in 10 women is the primary source of income for their families. And, 4 in 10 women feel the need to prioritise their partner’s career over theirs. The reason is simple – their partners make more money.
And thus, they are stuck in a vicious cycle –
Women’s chances of earning more diminish if they continue to prioritise their partner’s career over theirs. The idea of shared responsibility (which would help bridge this gap) seems alien, and a dream for most.
- FLEXIBILITY AT WORK 🧘♀️
The report found that the lack of flexibility is one of the top reasons why women leave their jobs.
▶ However, 97% of women believe that if they demand flexibility, it will negatively affect their career progression.
▶ 95% believe that even if they have flexible options, the workload won’t be adjusted accordingly.
The direct benefits of flexibility at workplaces were also made clear –
▶ 2/3rd of women said they will stay with their employer beyond 3 years if they had flexibility.
- HYBRID SETUPS 💻
There’s a decline in women’s experiences of predictability and flexibility at work despite WFH options.
The data also found that women are expected to go into the office despite receiving messaging or communication that suggests otherwise.
The good part –
▶ Only 4 in 10 women (37%) now experience exclusion from meetings, informal interactions, and decision-making during this hybrid setup.
▶ 30% of these hybrid workers said they don’t have access to senior leadership, compared to 45% in 2022.
- NON-INCLUSIVE BEHAVIOUR AT WORK ❌
▶ Nearly half (44%) of women reported facing harassment and microaggression at work. In 2022, this was 59%. In 2021 – 52%.
44% is still high. I’m not trivialising it.
Out of these, the majority experienced microaggressions at work. And a higher number of women reported these compared to last year.
▶ However, among women who reported harassment at work, we saw a decrease (59% from 66% in 2022). The top reason cited was that women didn’t think the issue was serious enough to report.
That was all! I hope this helped. In case you want to check out the full report, the link is in the comments.
#leadership #womenatwork #DecodingDraupadi