Listen: leap in women hired for top roles

Employers that embrace the flexible working revolution post the Covid-19 pandemic could boost applications from women for top jobs by as much as 20 per cent, according to new figures released today.

In a ground-breaking move, last year Zurich became the first company in the UK to advertise all vacancies with the option of ‘part-time’, ‘full-time’, ‘job share’ or ‘flexible working’. Coupled with the use of gender-neutral language in every job advertisement, this has generated significant change, with the insurer seeing a 16 per cent rise in women applying for jobs and a 20 per cent jump in female applications for management roles. Alongside an increase in applications, the number of women hired for senior roles as a direct result of the initiative has leapt by 33 per cent.

The findings form part of a wider study commissioned by the government and carried out by the Behavioural Insights Team. Zurich joined forces with the unit to identify issues that were blocking career progression for women. The research highlighted a lack of applications from women for senior roles. Many of these roles have not previously been available on a part-time or flexible basis and female employees reported that this lack of apparent flexibility was making them less likely to apply.

Aston spoke to Steve Collinson, executive commitee member and head of HR at Zurich UK to discuss the research in further detail.

Photo by Glenn Carstens Peter on Unsplash