Hybrid work is getting a little better for women
AFTER three years of trial and error, hybrid-work environments are finally becoming more inclusive.
The number of women who reported feeling excluded from meetings and decisions is down more than 36 per cent from last year, according to Deloitte’s third annual Women at Work survey, which polled 5,000 women from 10 different countries. In the report, 37 per cent of women who work on a hybrid schedule said that they have been left out, including from informal interactions with other co-workers, down from 58 per cent.
There was a similar decrease for hybrid workers who said they don’t have enough access to their companies’ senior leaders, with 30 per cent of women expressing such concerns versus 45 per cent last year.
Emma Codd, global inclusion leader at Deloitte, said that those numbers reflect the growing pains of hybrid work. “Last year, for many leaders and many teams, was a case of finding their way,” she noted. “This year we are seeing some bits of that improving, but we’re seeing some really important components of it not. Organisations need to be more deliberate about this, as do leaders.”
In all, 52 per cent of the women surveyed said that their employers have shifted, so they’re back to working in the office full-time, while 35 per cent of women said that they’re allowed to work on a hybrid schedule. An additional 8 per cent of women said that they’re offered full flexibility in deciding where they want to work.
More companies are calling their employees back to the office this year, with both Amazon.com and Starbucks mandating that workers show face at least three days a week. At Walt Disney, it’s a minimum of four days a week.
With a return to office, new problems are arising. Of the approximately 2,200 women who said they’re allowed to have a hybrid-work schedule, 33 per cent said that there’s still an unsaid expectation that they be in the office – no matter what their bosses say about flexibility – compared to 12 per cent who said so last year. A lack of flexibility and predictability was also on the rise, the women said.
Providing flexibility when it comes to work arrangements can be key for both attracting and retaining female workers: Two-thirds of women with flexible work schedules said that they plan to stay at their current employer for at least the next three years, compared to the one in five who don’t. And one in 10 women who have flexible schedules said that if their employer made them come back, they’d start looking for a new job.
“Hybrid work could be such a good thing,” noted Codd. She understands that companies are still figuring it out, but urges them not to abandon the practice altogether. “Refine by all means, but don’t do a U-turn.” BLOOMBERG
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