A research by Deloitte shows decline in working women’s wellbeing due to COVID-19 pandemic Bookmark has been added
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A research by Deloitte shows decline in working women’s wellbeing due to COVID-19 pandemic
Only 39% of women believe commitment from organizations to support women during the pandemic has been sufficient. 57% of women at work is considering resignation within 2 years due to decreased wellbeing and work-life balance.
TOKYO, JAPAN, 22 June 2021
Deloitte Tohmatsu Group (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Group CEO: Takashi Nagata) is releasing a Japanese version of “Women @ Work: A global outlook” based on a global research by Deloitte from November 2020 to March 2021.
This research dives deep into challenges women face at work and at home as well as the support required. 5,000 working women participated in the survey across 10 countries, from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, South Africa, U.K., and U.S., in addition to Japan. In the Japanese version of “Women @ Work: A global outlook”, we focus on the trends from 500 working women in Japan and compare them to the global average.
Decrease in wellbeing of working women
In Japan, 69% answered “good/extremely good” about their work-life balance before the pandemic, but decreased to 43% after the pandemic. In addition, positive answers regarding “Mental wellbeing” went down from 69% to 38%, and “Physical health/wellbeing” went from 66% to 46%, which poses a fundamental challenge.
Figure 1. Changes from pre-COVID-19 to post-COVID-19
Reasons for the decrease in wellbeing seems to have been impacted by the increase in “Workload (for paid employment)” (71%), and “Amount of time spent completing chores/house-management tasks” (50%) and decrease in “Quality of my relationship with my friends” (44%). This is similar to global trends and employers in Japan as well as around the world need to understand the changes and difficulties working women are facing, and provide further support.
Figure 2. To what extent, if any, have the following aspects of your life changed since the COVID-19 crisis broke
Women are considering to leave the workforce both in Japan and globally
In Japan, 57% answered that they are planning to stay with their current employers for less than 2 years (including 2% who expect to be furloughed/lose their job), 20% for 2 to 5 years, and only 3% for more than 5 years. Similar to the global result, more than half of the working women are considering to leave the workforce. The major reasons are “Lack of work-life balance” (23%), as well as “Increased caring responsibilities at home”(10%).
Figure 3. Given the current circumstances, how much longer do you expect to stay with your employer?
Inclusive culture leads for the better cycles
The survey indicates that women working for organizations with inclusive culture where women’s career development are highly supported, have higher levels of mental wellbeing, job satisfaction, motivation, and productivity, and plan to work for the current employer for longer. However, women working for such organizations consist only 4% both globally and in Japan (Globally around 200, including 12 in Japan). This research shows the challenges to maintain wellbeing of working women during difficult times like a pandemic, and indicates the importance for the employers to improve further support, by empowering an inclusive and highly-trusted culture and creating the resilient organizations.
For further details, please refer to the report from the links below:
Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives at Deloitte Tohmatsu Group
Diversity & Inclusion is one of the crucial management strategies at Deloitte Tohmatsu Group, and a key to keep contributing to the clients and society through resilience during this desruptive time. We empower Diversity & Inclusion in order to create an environment where individual differences such as gender, nationality, culture, LGBT +, and disabilities can be leveraged as our source of strengths.
Deloitte Tohmatsu Group Diversity
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Deloitte Tohmatsu Group Public Relations / Maki
Tel: 03-6213-3210 Email: press-release@tohmatsu.co.jp
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