Despite 91% of professional women feeling confident in their performance at work, a quarter were not promoted in pay, benefits or position in 2022, finds HiBob research
On International Women’s Day, research from HiBob highlights inequality between men and women is still rife in the modern workplace, with women’s careers and pay still progressing slower than men’s
London, UK – 8 March, 2023: HiBob, the company behind Bob, the HR platform transforming how organisations operate in the modern world of work, today publishes results from a new survey, conducted in partnership with Pollfish, painting a bleak picture of professional women’s views and experiences of the workplace.
Pay and promotions stalling
Despite 91% of women feeling confident in their performance at work compared with 81% of men, one in five women (25%) were not promoted in pay, benefits or position in 2022 compared with 22% of men.
When asked about promotions and pay compared to men, two in five women (40%) believe men are promoted more often or quicker than women in their company. Further, one in five men (20%) and almost twice as many women (35%) believe men are paid more for the same role at their company, whereas only 18% of men think they are.
While pay transparency laws, currently operational in certain US states, are making headway towards levelling the salary playing field, the UK has yet to even make salaries public by law and the research found a third of women (33%) say their organisation doesn’t share any salary information.
Benefits gap
As the CBI calls for childcare to be a UK business issue because “it is critical for economic growth” and the Women and Equalities Committee warns that the impact of the menopause is causing the UK economy to “haemorrhage talent”, the research released today reveals the stark difference between the male vs. female perception of the benefits that support equality and ease the pressure felt by women at work – childcare and menopause leave – and the reality of these in the modern workplace.
Only one in five women (19%) said their company offers childcare as a benefit, compared to almost a third of men (30%) who claim this is offered. Further, over a quarter of men (27%) say their company offers menopause leave, compared with only 16% of women saying this is offered.
Balancing act
As research shows that women still assume the majority of childcare and domestic responsibilities, compared to 2021, last year the number of women who said they constantly struggle rose four percentage points to more than one in twenty (6%). Women are also less optimistic than men that work life balance will improve this year; 21% of women compared with 29% of men.
Female leadership
While there is an overall perception that companies have committed to developing female talent, fewer women (31%) say their company has made a visible commitment to women in leadership than men (42%) and fewer women were promoted in 2022. When asked about their experience of their company’s attitude towards women, 25% said they experience it through company culture (compared with 36% of men), 23% through the executive leadership (compared with 30% of men), 22% through company values (compared with 33% of men) and 16% through benefits for women (compared with 27% of men).
Ronni Zehavi, CEO of HiBob comments “There is a huge risk to the UK economy if the female workforce in this country continues to have its potential thwarted. At a time when the UK is desperately trying to get people back to the office or back to work, companies must urgently introduce benefits that can act as levers for female equality in the workplace, such as flexi-working for childcare, and during menopause. The modern workplace is evolving, and businesses must keep pace, tracking what they offer to women and how they support women’s career progression and paths to leadership. It will make for depressing reading if our survey results do not show an improvement by this time next year.”
