Grant Thornton talked to 2,800 American women in the workforce to find out their views on a number of topics. The Women in Business 2022 report found that work is being done by companies to create more inclusive working practices. They are doing this by opening the doors to female talent to senior positions in greater numbers.
While the report found an increase in the proportion of women in senior management around the globe, it’s not much as it moved from 31% in 2021 to 32% in 2022. Looking at the number over the past 10 years, it has risen from 21% in 2012.
But it’s the gap in pay and job contentment that is most surprising. Fewer than half (49%) of women feel they are paid fairly for their contributions to their company’s success. This is compared to 62% of men who believe they are fairly paid.
Other areas of discontent include lifestyle constraints with just 30% of women saying that their pay enables them to live the lifestyle they choose. This is markedly different from the 56% of men who say their pay lets them have the lifestyle they want.
However, the numbers improve when it comes to work-life balance with 55% of women reporting they are happy with their work-life balance versus 64% of men.
The issue of well-being is different for women than for men. Only 25% of women say their emotional well-being has improved since last year (versus 39% for men), 31% said their financial well-being improved (versus 48% for men), and 35% said their professional well-being improved (versus 47% for men).
Looking at measurements of how they view their particular jobs, just 30% of women are looking forward to physically returning to work, versus 47% of men.
Does this mean that women will be looking for new jobs? Not necessarily as the survey found that just 24% of women are actively looking for a new job with a different company versus 34% of men. But when they do switch, only 33% of women received a 10%+ increase (versus 49% of men).
“It is essential for companies to become more equal,” says Anna Johnson, CEO of Grant Thornton Sweden, in the report. “It is a requirement for being attractive to both customers and employees. Gender equality is something we as leaders must prioritize every day, in every decision we make.”