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By Olivia Fletcher and Philip Aldrick
British companies are luring women into work by offering leave for menopause and miscarriage, part of an effort to fill vacancies during a period of widespread worker shortages.
Jobs advertising time off for a lost pregnancy rocketed almost 3,000% from a year ago in March, while posts citing fertility benefits such as egg freezing and IVF treatment soared over 700%, according to data provided to Bloomberg by the job site Adzuna. Those citing menopause leave doubled.
Women's Work Benefits | The number of UK jobs ads citing policies aimed at women
The figures suggest that executives are counting on more women entering the workforce, reflecting official figures that show they’ve joining the labor market at a faster rate than men. Economic inactivity levels — those out of work and not looking for a job — have climbed for men and declined for female workers.
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“We’re seeing the tightest labor market in our lifetime,” said Duncan Brown, principal associate at the Institute for Employment Studies. “In that setting, not getting access to the full capacity of the labor market — such as by not retaining female employees who go off during maternity and not having them working up to their skill and qualifications after they have kids — that is not a smart strategy.”
There are 173,000 fewer working age people in the workforce than before the pandemic, making Britain the only Group of Seven economy not to have recovered to pre-Covid levels. Attempts to tinker with terms and conditions of those taking jobs haven’t yet eased the problem.
UK Inactivity Rate | Men are becoming more inactive, while women become more active
Today’s workers are evaluating their employer’s propositions more carefully after the pandemic, according to Mairéad Nayager, chief human resources officer at Haleon, who added that she has personally benefited from more inclusive policies as a mother of two children under five.
“We see policies aimed at supporting women playing a critical role in helping us to attract and retain talent, which is so key to maintaining a competitive edge,” she said.
© 2023 Bloomberg L.P.
