Flexible work prized highly amongst female employees in 2024

Female employees are also prioritising factors like pay transparency and the prevention of sex harassment when it comes to finding new employers.
By: | February 20, 2024
Topics: Compensation and Benefits | DE&I | Employee Experience | Health and Wellness | Hybrid Working | Leadership | Learning and Development | News | Talent Management

Women are prizing flexibility as one of the most in-demand benefits when it comes to looking for a new employer, as three out of five female employees are looking to change jobs with a new employer, with 23% sharing that they are actively looking for new opportunities in 2024.

This was one of several key findings unveiled in the What Women Want survey, created by Work180, a platform that focuses on finding jobs for women with matching employers. The survey, which saw 769 respondents interviewed during a one-month period, saw respondents share their priorities, wants, and needs for the future.

Three-quarters of respondents, for example, prioritised flexible and remote working over a top-of-the-market salary, which was one desired by disabled respondents as well as non-white respondents.

Another focus of respondents in the report includes levelling up, with 22% of respondents focused on moving to the next stage in their career, and 18% of the respondents focusing on moving to leadership positions.

Other concerns on the priority for most important employer policies for female employees after flexibility include preventing sexual harassment at work and promoting pay transparency, with the demand for pay transparency most in demand by respondents in Generation Z (born 1997-2012), set to represent a quarter of all employees by 2025.

More than four out of five employees hope to understand what employers are doing to remove any income gap between genders, an increase of 5% in comparison to the year before. Yet, more than half (55%) have responded that they would still apply to a workplace with a poor gender pay gap if they could prove a commitment to closing it.

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Another challenge inhibiting women’s progress in the workplace includes discrimination, with nearly half of the respondents (46%) feeling unable to be their true selves in their current workplace, especially for those who have multiple elements of their identity that can cause discrimination, such as those who have hidden disabilities.