Weetabix, Coty & Almarose | How these firms are celebrating IWD

“For many companies, International Women’s Day (IWD) is part of an ongoing journey to create a fair and inclusive workplace,” Stuart Branch, Group People & Technology Director at Weetabix Food Company, told HR Grapevine. And this week, companies around the world will be marking this annual date with initiatives and schemes to demonstrate their commitment to levelling the playing field for women in the workplace.  

But while many businesses are set to do this, gender inequality is still a very real problem within organisations and recent data has pointed towards this. Analysis of the UK labour market from LinkedIn found that the share of women being hired in the UK fell dramatically in March and April last year, with the coronavirus pandemic playing a key part in this. It revealed that women were 45.8% of all hires in January 2021, compared to 42.2% in April 2020. 

There are also fresh fears that the extended delay of the gender pay gap reporting enforcement may send the ‘wrong signals’ to employers, as previously expressed by the CIPD. 

Despite this, businesses are ramping up their efforts to show their support of IWD and women in the workplace, with many highlighting the achievements of some of their senior team leaders and tapping into this year’s theme of #ChooseToChallenge.