The Largest Untapped Reservoir of Talent

It’s high time that we introduce parity and equal opportunity in the professional sphere

They did our clothes, prepared our breakfast and laid out the weekly-ration of the kitchen that needs to be, so to put food on the table. This for the sons, the working fathers and the family heads who have lived lives in a patriarch hierarchy. Women, whose potential have forever been taken for granted, have disastrously struggled for professional equilibrium, much for a society’s own demise. Yet signs are that they are stepping out of their kitchens to walk with men, shoulder to shoulder. Amen to that! 

Be it for geopolitical factors or a move to empower, those in authority are feeling the cold sweat trickle down their temples. Forced into action, they reciprocate by acts, which should have been granted-rights in the first place. Nevertheless, if someplace shrieks of equal pay others rally the cause of equal participation. A sign of times – Change is in the air! 

The conservatives of Saudi Arabia have parked their mind around the fact that women should be allowed to drive. The monarchy, led by Mohammad Bin Salman has introduced legislation with aims of generating a greater female participation in the workforce. Small in size yet potent in ambition, Singapore recorded a Labour Force Participation Rate for women at 60.4% in 2016. A decade earlier, this stood at 54.3%. U.K has impressed with almost half of its workforce accounted for by women. Of the total labor force growth from 2008-2018, women account for 51% in the U.S.   

Nature loves equilibrium and that’s what the shift is towards.  

1. Although women comprise 50 percent of earth’s population, when it comes to the global workforce, their contribution falls to 40 percent. 

2. An even disproportionate statistic is that this 40% owns just 1 percent of the total wealth in the world. Experts even predict that the recent surge in all spheres of businesses is likely to continue for some time.  

3. By 2025 the female workforce shall be another 150 million strong. This number could go as high as 210 million, provided major world governments embark on a journey to realize far-ranging academic initiatives. 

4. This torrential effect shall be most evident in the region of Asia-Pacific with millennials representing the better part of the professional female-brigade.  

Work-life balance makes the top of the check-list for female employees. An office culture that is both trustworthy and transparent attracts all, let alone a single sex. On top of that, talent managers would find proof in the pudding, were they to elucidate the mission of the organization and the expected contribution to each. Having women employees on-board not only plays the diversity chip well but also adds to the productivity of the business as women make better managers.