Labour force

Women are almost half of the talent pool…

• 47% of the workforce is female.[1] 
• 70% of working age women are now in employment.  This is the fourth highest rate in Europe.[2]

But they are still underrepresented in management…

• In Opportunity Now organisations 31% of all senior managers and 40 % of all other managers are female. [3]

• 34% of managers and senior officials were women in 2005.[4]

 And it’s even worse in the board room…

• Only 13 of the FTSE 100 companies have a female executive director.[5]

• 23 companies have no woman on their board, neither executive nor non executive.

Many women also have extra caring responsibilities

• The largest growth in labour market participation between 1990 and 2000 occurred among mothers with young children.[6]

• 52% of mothers of under fives are in employment

• 1.7 million women combine work with other (i.e. non child) caring responsibilities.[7]
  

“There is a global market for skilled people. China and India are turning out 4 million graduates a year, Britain 250,000, and these people are not only raising skills in their countries but challenging us in Britain and other advanced countries in a race to the top.  If we are to succeed in the global economy it is clear that we will have to make more of the potential of our people.” Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP Chancellor of the Exchequer in a speech to the CBI November 2006 UK employers are facing a skills gap now…

• 25% of vacancies are  hard to fill because of a lack of suitably skilled applicants[8]  
• 16% of employers are affected by skills gaps in their workforce[9] 
• 22% of the Association of Graduate Recruitment employers anticipated that they would not be able to fill all graduate vacancies in 2006[10] 

This is affecting the performance of UK organisations…

• One fifth of the productivity gap between the UK and countries such as Germany and France result from the UK’s relatively poor skills. [11]  
• The EOC’s investigations have found a clear correlation between employment sectors where men predominate and skills shortages[12] 

Effects of skills shortages reported by employers [13]   

And it’s only going to get worse…

• By 2020 the UK economy will need a further 5 million skilled workers beyond the current 9 million[14].

Women are an important part of the talent pool… 

• Girls are doing better at school.

Achievement of two or more GCE A levels or equivalent: by sex, United Kingdom

(Source: Social Trends 36: Department for Education and Skills; National Assembly for Wales; Scottish Executive; Northern Ireland Department of Education)

The attitudes of employees towards what they give to their employers and what they expect to see in return are changing.   The so called “millennials” (those born between 1978 and 1994) are starting to dominate the workforce not just in numbers but in attitudes and ideas.   This is placing work life balance and corporate social responsibility at the forefront of the debate on recruitment and retention.  But it is not just millenials who are demanding change…across the age spectrum from working parents to older workers; employees are seeking new ways of working.  Organisations that develop work-life balance and diversity policies taking these factors into account are likely to have the competitive edge.

Employees expect flexibility and fairness in their working lives to a greater degree than ever before… 

• A survey conducted by Mercer[20] shows that 82% of Millenials cite flexible working arrangements as a factor that influences their motivation and commitment to a job compared with 58% of a Generation X survey.   
• In a Work Foundation/Future Foundation survey, access to flexible working was the second most important aspect influencing choice of job (a higher than average salary was the first). [21]
• When asked what makes a good employers, respondents considered  “does not discriminate” as  important as a good pension scheme and far more important than an equity stake/share option  scheme  
• The British Social Attitudes survey in 2004 found that work life balance is even more important to people than pay. [22]      

• A DTI poll of 4,000 job seekers revealed that 33% would prefer to work flexible hours rather than receive an extra £1,000 a year. 70% of job seekers want to work more flexibly. 46% chose flexible working as the benefit they would most look for in their next job. [23]  

Unfortunately at the moment many UK workplaces are not meeting their expectations…

• 29% of employers consider that they bear no responsibility for helping people to balance work and other aspects of their lives [24] 
• More than eight out of 10 women and men working full time would like to spend more time with their family, up from three quarters in 1989[25] 
• A TUC report revealed that almost two-fifths of fathers would prefer to work fewer hours, with two-thirds saying spending more time with their family was the reason.[26]   

Getting it right will bring benefits for recruitment retention and performance…

Research shows a strong link between high employee satisfaction and superior job performance  

Percentage of employers citing a positive effect of work life balance[27]

Useful research

• Diverse Lifestyles in a changing world: considerations for employers aiming towards best practice in meeting the needs of the employee in the organisation Prof Ken Halo & Sue Taylor, University of Bolton.
• Global Statistics for the Labour Force

Useful Publications

National Employer Skills Survey (2005)

Free to Choose: EOC (2005)

The Leitch Review of Skills- Final report (2006)

Working outside the box- changing work to meet the future: EOC (2007)

Jones and Dickerson: Poor Returns: winners and losers in the job market (2007)

Second Work Life Balance Survey: DTI (2006)

The Ethical Employee: The Work Foundation/Future Foundation (2002)

Websites

Equal Opportunities Commission www.eoc.org.uk

Office of National Statistics www.statistics.gov.uk

Employers for Work Life Balance www.employersforwork-lifebalance