Women are Leaving the Workforce: Ways to Retain Them
There is a strong business case for hiring a diverse group of employees. A diverse workforce can offer unique perspectives that can improve problem-solving and increase innovation; has the capability to successfully serve a broad client base; and results in higher employee satisfaction and retention, the Diversity Council reports.
But workplaces are becoming less diverse as women are leaving them in greater numbers than men. Between January and June of this year, 212,000 women left the workforce. In contrast, 44,000 men entered it in that same time period, according to Time.
One reason for this decline in working women is the loss of flexibility. Return-to-office policies are most challenging for women owing to the disproportionate percentage of childcare and other household duties performed by women in opposite-sex couples. Gallup reported in March 2025 that “Women are 8.2 times as likely as men to say they are exclusively or mostly responsible for six or more household duties.”
Another challenge is the termination of Federal support for childcare in September 2024, Time reports. Even women who are able to afford rising childcare costs face more stressors than men. “Working women with children are roughly twice as likely as their male counterparts to report having considered reducing their hours or leaving their jobs altogether because of child care issues or declined or delayed promotions because of personal or family obligations,” Gallup reports.
There are things employers can do to attract and retain female (and other) workers seeking more work-life balance:
Offer reduced-hour options and pathways to promotion for part-time employees. This strategy can not only retain female employees but to also increase the percentage of women in the pipeline for leadership roles, Gallup suggests.
Have flexible policies to encourage full-time work. “Women who strongly agree their workplace provides the flexibility they need to address childcare are 15% more likely to select full-time employment as their preferred option,” Gallup reports. Flexibility can include hybrid and remote options, childcare subsidies, and parental leave.
Flexible policies also can apply to which hours people may work. Gallup finds that 54 percent of women prefer to switch between work and personal time throughout the day, rather than working an eight-hour time block and then having personal time—a schedule that 75 percent of women report working.
Since all employees crave better work-life balance, companies should make wellness part of their culture. “Meaningful action—such as providing wellness programs, mental health resources, comprehensive health benefits and a supportive work environment—will help organizations to gain a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining top talent,” Gallup reports.
For further reading, see “The Awful Problem of Matrimony”: Addressing Inequity at Home and Hitting the Maternal Wall.
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