Inequality | Call for female leaders spikes as pandemic widens pay gap

Discrepancies over gender pay has long been a hot topic many business leaders have had to contend with, particularly now that each year organisations are required to publicly share their gender pay gap figures.

While this year it was decided that the gender pay gap reporting regulations would be suspended due to the current global pandemic, several studies have indicated that women have been hit hardest during this time.

In May, Executive Grapevine reported on figures released by The World Health Organisation (WHO), which shared that particularly on the frontlines in healthcare, women comprise over three-quarters of the workforce and 87% of support staff. It shared that women hold a higher percentage of service-related jobs that have either been made redundant or furloughed due to the coronavirus crisis.

In addition, a recent survey published by Herbalife Nutrition, which explored some of the reasons that have motivated women to start their own business, highlighted the increasing frustrations over pay inequality. For example, 31% declared that they would be willing to start their own business due to a lack of equal pay.