The pandemic has disproportionately affected women’s careers; they have taken a significant hit. The findings reported in our annual Salary Guide show the extent of the harm that Covid-19 has wrought on female comms professionals, with more women taking pay cuts and pay freezes, twice as many women being made redundant than men, fewer bonuses being given to women, fewer women getting promoted – the figures are not pretty.

• 15% of women were promoted compared to 19% of men
• Women received an average pay increase of 2.96% compared to 3.26% for men
• 16% of women were asked to take a pay cut compared to 12% of men
• 54% of women received a bonus compared to 68% of men
• 10% of women’s bonuses were cancelled compared to 4% of men’s
• 5% of women’s roles were made redundant compared to 3.5% of men’s

  Almost one third of comms professionals thought their career advancement had been negatively affected by the pandemic.  The reasons women cited were line managers not discussing their career progression, promotions being stalled and home office hindering their learning.

The Covid-19 crisis has greatly intensified challenges that women were already experiencing. Working mothers who were dealing with gruelling schedules have had to deal with a lack of childcare and, in many cases, home schooling. Add in heightened anxiety over redundancies and furloughs, and the result is a huge number of female employees feeling as if they need to be ‘always on’, working around the clock and heading towards burnout.

Given that the past 18 months have been the most uncertain and turbulent in recent memory, the findings aren’t surprising, but they are certainly concerning.  For many working women, the pandemic has upended their work/life balance and affected their physical and mental health, with many starting to question their current and long-term career prospects.

Knowing all of this, what can be done? What action do companies need to take to help women bounce back?  And what can women do to help themselves, to erase any doubts they may have, and steer their careers in a forwards direction again?

Employers must offer flexible working options that are exactly that – flexible. We have adjusted to working from home, and employees will be expecting a hybrid of physical and remote work; in short, flexibility is no longer a perk, it’s a permanent feature of landscape. It is really important that women have a voice in shaping what their roles will look like if they are to take back control of their work/life balance.

The future is also one of authenticity. When employees feel like they can bring their whole selves to work, good things happen. Feeling authentic at work leads to higher engagement, job satisfaction, and performance. Yet, for women, it’s challenging to bring their whole selves to work. Authenticity – the healthy alignment between values and behaviours – is a powerful factor in women’s lives. As time goes on, more and more women will be consciously designing their lives in accordance with their top priorities—and that includes being true to themselves.  With this in mind, my advice to employers and employees alike is to share more authentically, and talk about the things you are unsure or confused about, admit mistakes and errors (it will earn you trust from people), don’t fake listening, really listen but at the same time, maintain good boundaries – authenticity doesn’t mean having no filter.

One more important step for women is to get good at negotiating.  If you are not being paid your market worth, then it’s time to negotiate.  As the economy re-emerges from the pandemic, I would urge female comms professionals to insist on better pay increases and get really savvy as to what their role is worth on the market.

Nurturing the potential of women by helping them be gainfully employed and optimistic about their future is not just good for women, it’s good for everyone.

 The Works Search is a search consultancy specialising in PR and corporate communications. We have unrivalled matching abilities and are known for finding the top 5% performers in the industry. For more advice or market insights, do get in touch with us on 0207 903 9291 or email sarah@the-works.co.uk