Smart Works offers coaching and support to help unemployed women perform well at job interviews. The charity released the results of its year-long study of 4,912 women who were beneficiaries of its support, on Tuesday (28 January 2025).
Researchers found that women they surveyed had a higher average of unsuccessful applications than three years ago (38 applications, compared with 28 in 2022), when the charity first conducted this annual research.
After experiencing the application process, 60% of women (an increase from 56% in 2023) felt less confident.
To address this, Becky Hewitt, CEO of culture consultancy Kin&Co, told HR magazine that employers should focus on supporting women who need to work by being more open to parental leave, and offering flexible hours for those who need it.
Read more: Working from home risks women's career progress, says Nationwide leader
She also urged HR and business leaders to address outdated stereotypes and double standards about gender.
According to Alice Burks, director of people success for the hiring platform Deel, business and HR leaders can contribute to women’s employment by offering leadership training and internal leadership, “to make sure that women get the opportunities they need”.
Speaking to HR magazine, Burks added: “Female workers have said that having access to role models and supporters would lead to an improvement their career.”
Offering context, Hewitt explained: “It is a really tough environment for women in the UK workplace. Bias in hiring and promotion persists. Women are often interviewed countless times to give comfort to male interviewers that they are worth the risk. When they are given roles, many experience the ‘glass cliff’ where they are expected to prove themselves on disproportionately challenging and high-risk briefs, and are judged more severely if they fail.
Read more: Women are most likely to be underemployed, research finds
“In times of economic downturn women are often among the first to be affected as businesses make waves of redundancies for part-time or more precarious positions. It’s a hard time. And it’s getting harder.
“We need organisations to stand with women, take systematic action to challenge discrimination, and invest time and resources in overcoming barriers.”
Speaking to HR magazine, Claire Reindrop, chief executive of the Young Women’s Trust charity, added: “Women that are getting jobs tend to be trapped in a bad job, getting barely paid, because it will supply them with the flexible hours they need.”
She advised HR and business leaders to help reverse this issue by addressing pay gaps, having policies to tackle discrimination, consistently supporting representation for women, and encouraging flexible working so that more women can adapt their working schedule if they need to.
