Gender Equality in the Workplace
Sustainable development requires ending discrimination against women and creating equal opportunities in education and employment. Gender equality has clearly proved to be an incentive for economic growth, which is crucial for so-called developing countries.
UN Women reports that in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries, half of the economic growth of the past 50 years has been due to girls with better access to education and an increase in the number of school years between girls and boys. That is why the GVI has launched projects focusing on the education of girls’ children as part of long-term sustainable development initiatives.
Despite progress towards the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), women continue to face barriers in the labor market in almost every country in the world. For example, the World Bank has reported that up to 2.7 billion women worldwide are legally prevented from working in certain professions. In 18 countries, men can legally prohibit their wives from working. Other barriers include sexual harassment, expected gender roles and the need to perform most unpaid care and laborious tasks such as water collection.
Even when women are working, the gender pay gap means that they do not earn the same amount. Worldwide, women earn only 77 cents on the dollar compared to men. According to the World Bank, these obstacles represent $160 trillion in potential revenue loss. If women do not have access to empowerment opportunities that allow them to enter the world of work, countries will have little chance of developing.
At present, women have better access to flexible work, more support for maternity pay and generally better qualifications than men.
In today’s modern world, there are laws on gender equality and equal pay, but inequality and pay gaps exist in many jobs across the country.
Gender equality in the workplace can only be achieved if workers have access to the same rewards and opportunities and enjoy the same benefits and opportunities, equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, and all occupations, sectors, and roles are accessible regardless of gender.
The persistent pay gap and gender equality are often attributed to male-dominated jobs, the under-representation of women in management positions and the impact of the work-life balance of women and the family.
To eliminate the current gender pay gap, companies with more than 250 employees will have to publish information on the gender pay gap and gender bonuses on their own website and on a government website from April 2018.
Overall, gender diversity is widely highlighted when it makes the headlines every year on International Women’s Day (8 March). This year, many companies and organizations have announced their intention to make changes in this area.
In this sense, we examine the benefits of gender equality:
- It is fair and correct, which improves your company’s reputation. How a company is represented in front of its audience, employees and potential talents is an important factor for its overall success.
- If women are represented fairly and on an equal footing, they are likely to achieve better results, leading to higher corporate profits. The satisfaction that comes from fair representation increases employee engagement.
- For example, if a board is diverse, the culture will be different. The chances of a successful business are good because the decision-making process is very different and the issues are looked at from a broader perspective.
- Improving national productivity and economic growth.
- Improving the ability of companies to attract talent and retain employees.
Expanding your talent pool will be more effective if the company is known for eliminating discrimination, and candidates will feel comfortable contributing their different skills. At Integra People, we recognize the importance of gender equality and employ successful men and women in all positions with 53% women and 47% men.
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