The past year has been challenging for most, however, the gender divide of the UK workforce navigating these challenges is far from balanced. With studies showing that the fall out effects of COVID-19 has disproportionately affected women’s lives, both personally and professionally. Data by the Office for National Statistics reveals that throughout the pandemic women have been at a significantly higher risk of job loss and furlough, have struggled more than men with anxiety and depression and have also taken on more hours each week devoted to unpaid childcare and unpaid non-developmental care- 64% more than men. Ultimately, this has highlighted the significant disparity in how working from home has affected men and women, with women evidently bearing the brunt.

The return-to-work period now poses a genuine challenge for women, with anxiety about returning to the office widespread. Unique data commissioned by Future Strategy Club supports this notion, revealing that 56% of women are now anxious and concerned about the difficulties they will face when trying to adapt back to their pre-pandemic professional life after the past year. This is in comparison to 46% of men. On top of this, 20% of women are also concerned that they will be unable to make the right connections to help career progression due to their knocked professional confidence. Today, 58% of women are now considering starting their own business or beginning freelance work. This statistic makes it clear that women want to establish themselves outside the norms of the traditional workplace, which has evidently let them down during the pandemic.

It is now essential that the government and private sector begin supporting women in the soon coming return-to-work period. Future Strategy Club recognises the difficulties that many women today facing and Avalyn Kasahara, Membership Director at Future Strategy Club, shares her advice for women struggling with re-entry anxiety:

“All workers within the UK have been affected by the global pandemic in some way, but we must recognise that this year has been particularly tough for women, with many suffering from the gendered economic impact of COVID-19. This means women are now the most anxious to return to the office post-pandemic. Women are also extremely concerned about making the right connections and their future prospects- yet there are still things that can be done to relieve this anxiety.

Set a networking strategy. Think about what you’d like to achieve through networking and then use this to consider where best you might be able to meet people who can support you in achieving those goals. Even before the pandemic, collectives of like-minded individuals were coming together around shared goals, passions and causes, and this has only developed further during 2020. Whether it is a specialism based collective focused on the breaking trends in your area, or a sustainability-based collective looking at best practices or, like FSC, a collective based around personal and career growth, there are a lot of options to be involved in.

Consider your current network and those that you have worked with that you admire. It could be worth reaching out to them personally to see whether you could set up a monthly mentorship session. This goes both ways; many senior leaders are looking to pick up their mentorship. Adding to that, make sure you’re utilising the digital tools available. Use LinkedIn to discover what people are doing, attend webinars, or reach out to someone for a virtual coffee.”