Formalization of work, guarantees and more equity: necessary elements for those who represent the most qualified labor force in the country, according to a study.
A recent report from the International Labor Organization (ILO) indicates that the unemployment rate for women in low- and middle-income countries is 6.2%, compared to 4.3% for men. Likewise, 24.9% of women cannot find a job, compared to 16.6% of men.
An important factor that the ILO points to as an explanation for the minimal labor participation of women in the global labor force is the upbringing of children.
Despite its great capabilities, the gap remains scandalously wide. Why is it so difficult for a woman, especially if she is a mother, to enter the world of work without barriers?
Women, highly talented workforce
According to the study carried out by the multinational THT, in which 451,726 technical and professional Colombian women between the ages of 20 and 40 participated, they represent the great labor force in the country. The study evaluated their performance on 36 soft skills that influence job success.
Among the professional virtues of women, their ability to communicate when giving feedback to their teams assertively stood out, with 59.7%; their ability to understand and listen to others and thus transmit necessary and timely information in order to achieve objectives, with 58%; and its ability to focus on achieving objectives through the control and use of resources in favor of quality, with 51.2%.
However, while they are a valuable employment resource, the current outlook remains grim, especially for those who are mothers.
The stage is still gray
A woman spends at least 8 hours a day at work, plus 7 hours and 46 minutes dedicated to unpaid household chores, plus about 2 hours each way between their homes and workplaces, for a total of more than 17 daily working hours, with just a couple of hours free for their personal interests, leisure, entertainment, essential activities for every individual.
The gender gap between men and women currently in Colombia is 71%, according to the International Economic Forum. They work more, but earn much less and have a harder time finding a job.
Their participation in the labor market is lower, with 44.4% compared to 70% of men, a trend that comes from last year, when women had a participation of 51.8% compared to men with a participation of 76 ,5%.
According to DANE, for every $100 received by a man, a woman only gets $94.2. By 2022, the unemployment rate for them was 14.3%, 5.3 points higher than the male rate.
And in terms of health, the situation is no less worrying. In 2021, mortality from cardiovascular diseases – perhaps one of the most recurrent causes of death in the world due to stress – reached a rate of 15.7% in women compared to 10.5% in men.
It is truly difficult, especially when women must take care of their homes in most cases, in essential care, where their partners have little or no participation, either due to neglect or abandonment. According to the 2018 census, 40.7% of households that depend only on the mother are poorer than those headed by a man.
The work environment, another aspect to improve
Within the great labor difficulty for women, the work environment should be mentioned, which has been the subject of discussion and many improvements, as a result of the micro-aggressions that workers have to face, a phenomenon that affects their professional growth.
We are talking here about an excessive underestimation of their abilities by colleagues or bosses, who question their judgment, doubt their experience, steal their credits and make comments about their appearance, not to mention workplace bullying and other reprehensible behaviors.
“It is a problem that cannot be solved just by opening more jobs,” says Jasmina Freire, Employee Experience expert at Factorial, a software and innovation company in Human Resources. «The human resources areas come to play an important role in the transformation of the organizational culture of companies, since in addition to ensuring the rights that every employee in a company has —overtime, leaves, vacations—, they also participate as agents of change in negative behaviors rooted in the national culture”.
Let May be an ideal time to draw attention to the urgency of giving women, especially working mothers, the space they deserve. There is no point in continuing to fight to demonstrate what should already be evident: the great value that your skills bring to the development of the community.