Empowering Women in Tech for International Women’s Day

Posted On By Roberto Mae

Empowering Women in Tech for International Women’s Day

#PressforProgress

On the 8th March, our Company is delighted to be hosting the Salesforce London Women in Tech Event to celebrate women and employers who offer flexible working within the Salesforce Eco-System.

At the event we will discussing the topics that the day represents, with a focus on

  • challenge stereotypes and bias
  • promoting positive visibility of women
  • celebrating women’s achievements
  • influencing others’ beliefs / actions

Championing Flexible Working within the Salesforce Eco-System

As part of this day, we want to encourage, celebrate and name Salesforce employers who offer flexible job roles..

According to research by PWC – 29,000 professional women returning to part-time work wish to work more hours but are unable to due to the lack of flexible full time roles.

Did you know that 2.6m mums are not working and according to recent research 7 out of 10 can’t find flexible work, and 55% of those who go back to work accept more junior positions.

A flexible employer, offers job opportunities that are combine options such as part-time hours, remote working, flexible working hours or ad-hoc contracts.

If your company is a flexible employer, pledge your support here

We will give your company a shout out on International Women’s Day!


Why…

Salesforce pro-actively promotes equality in the sector…

“Salesforce are dedicated to building gender Equality in the workplace and beyond through empowering, supporting, and investing in the global community for women and their allies. Their Women’s Network is the largest Ohana group with 6000+ members across 30+ hubs globally. Our programs include LeanIn Circles, volunteer opportunities, International Women’s Day events, Woman of the Month series, mentorship opportunities, children’s initiatives, and Women in Technology programs. The focus is always on improving inclusion and Equality for all on the gender spectrum, to help make Salesforce the best place to work for all.” https://www.salesforce.com/company/equality/ohanas/

Salesforce Supermums Programme

At our Company, we train women in Salesforce Administration skills who are looking to get back into work after having a family. Alongside training they also gain real work experience on projects with charities and mentoring from our consultancy team. On graduation we actively search for opportunities and place mums into job roles.

Find out more about the Salesforce Supermum Programme

Heather Black, our Managing Director and Mum of two, is passionate about supporting women back to work after having a family, and her team at our Company reflects that passion. Heather and the team have personally experienced the pressures placed on working parents, and felt that they could help to make a difference to this cause, and help overcome some of the challenge it presents.

Did you know that the disadvantage for women returning to work exists at a number of levels:

Why do we need to champion women in tech?

Did you know that 2.6m mums are not working and according to recent research 7 out of 10 can’t find flexible work, and 55% of those who go back to work accept more junior positions (https://digitalmums.com/blog/workthatworks-report 2016)

The gender pay gap still stands at about 19%, with the average British woman earning around 80p for every £1 earned by a man (Closing the Gender Pay Gap, July 2015). This report also identifies that for those women who do start out on similar pay levels, there is still a big chance that having children will mean they end up falling behind financially and that opportunities are still too rare for those who want to work part-time because of caring responsibilities.

According to the Family & Childcare Trust’s 14th Annual Childcare Costs Survey, the cost for all types of childcare for under-fives has risen by at least 27% under the last Parliament. (source: Family & Childcare Trust 2015).

Women are under-represented in IT and make up under 30% of the workforce and just 20% of IT graduates. Only 10% of app developers are women (source: Tech Women in UK report 2015, FE Week).

Women can lack confidence, experience and skills to enter employment and need additional support to reach their potential, particularly after having a family.

Find out more about International Women’s Day and the #PressforProgress campaign https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

Tweet this post and #PressforProgress to celebrate International Women’s Day

 

Roberto Mae
bensykes@bensykes.co.uk

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