Context

Deloitte’s Women @Work: A Global Outlook report, now in its fourth year, highlights the critical issues affecting women’s careers.

Key Highlights of the Global Women@Work Survey, 2024

• Representing the views of 5,000 women from organizations across 10 countries, the report seeks to understand the lived experiences of women at work—and the ways in which aspects of their lives outside work can impact these experiences. 
• It highlighted three often overlooked areas of concern: Mental health, Physical pain, and safety in the workplace and during travel.
• In 2023 more women left their employer than in the two previous years combined. 

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Mental Health of Women:

• Women are more stressed, mental health stigma persists : 
  • Many women aren’t receiving adequate mental health support from their employers 
  • Two-thirds of women don’t feel comfortable discussing mental health at work or disclosing mental health as the reason for taking time off. 
  • Many women worry about discrimination or being laid off, and one in 10 have had negative experiences when discussing their mental health at work in the past. 
• Link between working hours and mental health: While half of women who typically just work their contracted hours describe their mental health as good, this declines to 23% for those who regularly work extra hours. 

Women’s Health: Many women are working through pain 

• Menstrual disorders, menopause, and fertility challenges are impacting women, yet many feel unable to take time off or seek support
  • More than a quarter of women experience challenges related to menstruation, menopause, or fertility. 
  • Many of them work through pain and discomfort without taking time off work—a worsening reality for those experiencing menopause. 
    • More than 40% of women who experience high levels of pain due to menstruation say they work through it without taking time off work
• This year, fewer women feel comfortable discussing these health challenges with their managers and say their careers have been negatively affected by discussing these issues at work.

Household Responsibility:

• Two in 10 women living with a partner—women bear the most responsibility for 
  • Childcare or 
  • Care for other adults, and 
  • other domestic tasks.
• Repercussions Of Women with more domestic responsibilities : 
  • lower mental well-being & 
  • They are less able to focus on their careers.

Safety in the workplace and during travel:

• Almost half of the women worried about their safety at work or while traveling
• In India, 46% of women workers cited personal safety at work or when traveling to/from work as a top concern. 
  • A little over a quarter of respondents feel that they could be attacked or harassed due to the location or neighborhood of their workplace. 

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On Gender Equality Leaders (GELs) 

• The proportion of women working for GELs is 6% globally and 6% in India. 
  • On a scale of 100, women working for Gender Equality Leaders (GELs) scored their loyalty at 76, productivity at 75, and motivation and sense of belongingness at 71. 
• The report also pointed out that women professionals working in GELs are 
  • far more likely to recommend their organizations to other women,
  • feel far more satisfied with the mental health support extended to them, and 
  • feel more comfortable talking about their mental health in the workplace. 
  • They are also much more optimistic about their career prospects.