Seven in 10 women believe that their career progression will certainly be afflicted by Covid-19

Seven in 10 girls who've experienced negative changes to their routine amid the Covid-19 pandemic believe it'll prevent them from progressing within their careers, further erasing gains realized in workplace gender equality over the years.

Regarding Deloitte's Understanding the pandemic's impact on working women article, 82 % of women reported these were negatively disrupted by the pandemic seeing that their workloads increased above the months.

Sixty-five per cent of women who experienced shifts within their daily routine because of the pandemic said they will have more responsibility for household chores, while a third said their workloads increased.

The study, which polled almost 400 working women around the world, showed that 40 % of respondents said the pandemic-induced changes to their lives impacted their physical well-being plus they were unable to balance work and life commitments.

“Because the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve all had to adapt our daily lives," Rana Salhab, persons and purpose partner at Deloitte Middle East, said.

"However, women are being impacted found in profound ways, facing tremendous challenges and commonly dealing with expanded duties at home while continuing to juggle their careers.”

The pandemic has already established a "disproportionate" influence on women's employment and may derail the gains achieved up to now in empowering them, the International Monetary Fund warned in a weblog post earlier this season.

Women’s jobs are 1.8 times more vulnerable during the Covid-19 crisis than men’s jobs globally, at 5.7 per cent versus 3.1 per cent respectively, regarding to McKinsey. While women constitute 39 % of global employment, in addition they account for 54 % of overall job losses amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

Women performed three-quarters of unpaid care work - 3.two times more than men - even before Covid-19 began. Following outbreak, the Deloitte study noted that ladies who shoulder 75 per cent or more of caregiving tasks almost tripled to 48 per cent, up from 17 per cent through the pre-pandemic period.

Nearly all women with children reported shouldering extra childcare responsibilities, with 53 % saying that home-schooling or education obligations fell to them.

Meanwhile, nearly a third of functioning women without caregiving duties said they look and feel they always ought to be available in work and so are concerned their career progression will be afflicted if they're unable to fulfill this need.

Twenty-three per cent of respondents said they feel a have to always be “on” for work in fear they'll end up having to choose between their personal obligations and careers, and 10 per cent said they may have to look at a career break or leave the workforce entirely.

Such challenges are demotivating operating women, with 60 % even questioning whether they want to progress within their careers taking into consideration the efforts required to meet the extra workloads, the survey found.

The Deloitte survey advised that companies give more flexible working arrangements, mentoring opportunities and address unconscious bias when endorsing employees to aid the female workforce.

“As organisations adjust to support girls through the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond, our exploration demonstrates there’s no one-size-fits-all approach,” Ms Salhab said. “This up coming year will establish critical in our efforts to attain gender diversity in the workplace. Businesses must prioritise flexibility, equity and inclusion to aid women in achieving their career ambitions.”