New year, new glass ceiling: Women four times more likely to feel stagnant in their career since working from home

Female bosses

New research reveals that more than half of women employed in the UK believe their employer isn’t providing them with enough opportunities for career progression.

As working from home has become more permanent over the last year, women are now four times as likely than men to feel their career has stagnated.

In an effort to work around this career roadblock and break the glass ceiling, the study shows that women are responding by moving companies — one in three women started new jobs in the last year compared to less than one in five men.

The new research found that women are increasingly looking for higher pay, better work-life balance and more constructive feedback from management.

The ‘UK Employee Support and Retention Survey’ was conducted by virtual events and in-person team building company Wildgoose. It asked employees from 133 UK companies about their onboarding experience at their new company, what current or previous employers could do better to retain their employees, and which workplace pressures affected retention over the last year.

The survey comes after experts warned in recent reports that home and hybrid working models could lead to increasing gender inequality in the workplace.

The improvement most desired amongst women was more opportunity to progress, in contrast to the priorities of male employees, for whom this didn’t make the top three. The study found men are more likely to want increased pay (67%) and for employers to address excessive stress issues at work.