3 statistics you should know if you want to attract female talent

Most companies would like a better balance between men and women in the workspace. But what should companies offer to attract and retain female talent? These are the 3 most important statistics they should be aware of.

In the past year PageGroup surveyed just over 8,700 women from Europe who applied for open roles on our sites, on topics related to work during the pandemic.

We asked these job applicants what they thought about flexible work, about their motivation while working from home, and their thoughts on job security. These are the most important outcomes companies should know if they want to appeal to female talent.

1. Offer remote working possibilities, yes, but…

Just like most of their male colleagues, many women (67% would like to be able to work remotely more in the future, once the global health crisis is over. More than half (51%) of the surveyed women said it increased their productivity while they were working from home.

However, one in five women (20%) felt their motivation decreased. It´s important for employers to strike the right balance between giving the flexibility to work from home and creating enough team moments to keep the motivation high.

2. Female talent is crossing over to other industries

In the past most people tended to stay within the same industry throughout their career, but that time is over. According to the survey of PageGroup 56% of women started to apply for roles outside of their current sector and/or position. And, importantly, 65% of them did this to improve their job prospects. The crisis made that many women felt they careers stagnated, which made them start looking for other opportunities. If companies want to retain their best female employees they´ll need to make sure they have the opportunity to grow within the company, also in difficult economic times.

3. Invest in training and development

One of the most important ways companies can invest in talent development is by offering professional training. Unfortunately, in times of crisis this is one the things that companies tend to save on. If they do, talented employees will look elsewhere to develop their skills. According to 49% of female job applicants learnt new skills related to their roles, and, supporting the idea that women are taking control of their careers.