Women's health took a big toll on their workplace during the pandemic, according to the Group's survey Adecco Resetting Normal Report for 202. Many women suffered from burnout. Their mental health took a toll, with stress levels about returning to the office increasing significantly.

But what is the reason for this phenomenon of falling employment rates among women?

The first and most important reason is that a large proportion of women, compared to the male population, work in sectors that have been particularly affected by COVID.

In particular, many women work in sectors such as tourism and retail. Sectors that have been hit hard by the effects of the lockdown. In other sectors, such as health and social care, women were at the forefront of tackling the crisis and were working in very stressful working conditions.

The same research Resetting Normal Report for 2021, showed that Men and women have dealt with the pandemic differently. In many societies women are still responsible for house care. This phenomenon has increased dramatically with the closure of schools. All families They were trying to protect their elderly relatives from the virus. However, it was women who took most of the care of the household. McKinsey and Lean In found that at the beginning of the pandemic American mothers spent an additional five hours a day on housework. In addition, in the households where both the man and the woman worked, when one of the two was forced to stop working, In 80% of cases it was the woman who stopped working.

How can we prevent a lost generation of women in terms of work? Adecco Group proposes three innovative solutions

Women need to be integrated into work more relevant to technology and the digital world. This is in order to accelerate the rapid digital change in which Women won't feel sidelined. While digital roles become more important in the economy, the lower the share occupied by women. To change this trend, the role of female role models is particularly important. Many women are inspired by the action and work of important women and decide to follow in their footsteps, studying technological sciences. Many women, for example, have joined the workforce now as scientists in policing because they loved the character of NCIS' Abby Scuito.

Astronaut Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to go into space with the U.S. space program, said she was inspired by actress Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek. Essentially, more movies and TV shows with strong female personalities that are inspiring as great female leaders and scientists are needed. In addition, some women do not prefer digital jobs. This is because they think they will be working alone, in front of a computer. But the truth is that most technology-related positions involve a wide range of activities that also requires interaction with colleagues. At the same time, depending on the subject, it can offer them the much-needed flexibility in place and time of work.

Governments and corporate bodies on women's work

Governments and corporate bodies should speed up arrangements to:

• eliminate pay discrimination
• reward companies that implement equal treatment and equal opportunities policies for all their employees
• provide flexible training

Companies should be required to prove that they pay men and women on equal terms for the same work.

In the fight for gender equality, eliminating discrimination and strengthening the role of women in social and economic life revolves significantly around their role in the world of work. In addition, women should be prioritised in upskilling and reskilling programmes by developing more digital skills training programmes to match women's lifestyles. Podcasts are in the right direction. They offer the opportunity for many women to train while performing other tasks, such as taking care of the household.

Societies need to think much more seriously about how to deal with the often prohibitive costs of caring for children and the elderly. In some countries the family is the main pillar of care for the elderly and children. There women continue to play a leading role in the care of the home. As regards maternity, disincentives that may add indirectly to their recruitment or development should be reduced. At the same time, to strengthen initiatives that will help them cope with the difficulties in their reintegration after having children, such as the corresponding structures.

Konstantinos Mylonas, Cluster Head of the Adecco Group in Greece, Romania and Bulgaria

"Women's work contributes to growth and social well-being. At the same time, it adds wealth and utilizes the pools of human resources. Women had made decades of progress in the workplace before the pandemic partially turned it around. Through a meaningful discussion between the state and business, we must now get this progress back on track. In this whole effort we must always ensure their very important role in the upbringing of children, which is of incalculable value to society."