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The COVID career catalyst.

Career
9 February 2021 | clock 5 min read 


Australian women are using COVID as a catalyst to change-up their careers and seek what they really want out of employment from more flexibility to greater work/life balance, a new survey by Women’s Agenda1 has found.

woman 

QSuper’s Senior Manager Workplace Relations Marissa Heggie said now could be the time for women to ask for what they wanted off the back off a new, more level playing field.

“I can think of examples where women have been leveraging a different set of skill sets like their side hustle. There is that growing sense of it’s now or never,” she said.

Jade Collins, founder of gender equality social enterprise Femeconomy agreed, saying there was a “growing exodus” of corporate women starting professional services businesses such as accounting, human resources, consulting, recruitment and logistics.

Their comments support a November 2020 survey by Women’s Agenda,1 which found four in five women are re-thinking what’s important to them in a career as a result of COVID.

“Women should not underestimate their own strength. There have been really tough times,” Ms Heggie said.

I think the opportunity is to make work, work for the individual and to find that balance.

“Hopefully it is easier because of the experience organisations have had with remote and flexible working.”

She’s on Q has identified what the new working normal looks like in the post pandemic world.

Impact on home life

“The immediate issue when we went into lockdown and schools were closed, was we have lots of wonderful men who will assist with parenting, but it is usually women who are shouldering the majority of parenting,” Ms Heggie said.

“Women were having to juggle childcare, schooling and work and whether they were in fact able to keep working.

“You saw that across all industries. It was a huge burden upon women and parents.”

Impact on job security

Ms Heggie believes COVID has brought both positive and negative outcomes.

“It has affected the health care, social work and education work sectors which are predominantly staffed by women who have been hardest hit,” she said.

“Some women were not able to work in retail and hospitality. There were massive burdens to shoulder.

“In industries like my own, there have been positives that have come out of the situation such as flexibility, teamwork and using technology to its advantage.

The impact has been dependent upon the industry.

She’s On Q has highlighted how sharing grief may lead to greater resilience post COVID.

Impact on women's economic security

Ms Collins said the pandemic had “starkly highlighted women’s precarious economic stability”. An Economic Security 4 Women2 whitepaper found:

  • Working women on average do 15 hours more unpaid work a week compared with men
  • The economic security for women as a result of COVID-19, the recession and upheaval, has dropped by 2.3 per cent compared with 1.7 per cent for men
  • There has been a decline in young women in employment which has dropped by 18 per cent for those under the age of 20, compared to 13 per cent for men.

“A vitally important factor for women as they think about retirement, of those in the 55 to 64 year old age bracket, 24 per cent have no superannuation compared with 16.3 percent of men.2

“The gap remains wide for all age cohorts. Women retire with 31 per cent less superannuation savings than men.2”

She’s On Q has identified four key superannuation pillars for women to consider when starting a new job.

  1. Finding lost super3
  2. Consolidating your super3
  3. Reviewing your investment options
  4. Considering boosting your super by salary sacrificing.

But Ms Collins believes there are some positives to arise from the COVID crisis such as remote and flexible working, more value on caring roles such as nursing and teaching, a greater focus on superannuation, and less travel and environmental pollution.

Workplaces had demonstrated that roles could be flexible and remote for both men and women and in regional and rural areas, as well as cities.

“It is risky but make sure you have a financial safety net in place,” Ms Heggie said.

“Absolutely go for it. So many women have built successful businesses from stalls in the market and are now turning over millions of dollars.”

Femeconomy publishes a directory of more than 850 businesses owned or led by women for the growing number of consumers, budget owners and business owners wishing to support female-led businesses.

Lightbulb moment for men

Ms Heggie believes the COVID career changes could be just as stark for some men who were gaining in insight into the work/life balance paradigm for the first time.

“Our male parents have had a huge opportunity to participate in home schooling and see what the benefits of flexibility are,” she said

You are not really going to have a quality work life before you have quality at home.

"We definitely need to involve men to be as flexible in their approach to work as women are.

“There is a real stigma about taking parental leave or part time to care for children, particularly for men at senior levels.”

Impact on the future

COVID has presented an ideal opportunity for women to press pause and examine what they really wanted from their careers going forward, according to Ms Heggie.

“Think really carefully about what it is you really want in your next role and get really clear about that,” she said.

“Think about the hours, flexibility, role models and the values of those at senior levels.
“There are opportunities to stop and consider before you move forward again about what you want to do next.”

Impact on job interviews

Ms Heggie believes now is the time for women to be courageous at interview.

“Ask the really direct, simple questions. What does a normal day look like? What are the opportunities to make up some hours later?,” she said.

“It is about having that conversation and being comfortable having that conversation.

“We’ve all had to reflect on how we want to run our lives and what’s important.”


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1. Women’s Agenda, ‘The Great COVID Career Reset’, accessed 29 January 2021 at womensagenda.com.au
2. Economic Security 4 Women ‘Issues relating to the economic security for all Australian women – a White Paper (June 2018) update’, accessed 29 January 2021 at security4women.org.au
3. Before you consolidate your super, you should check with your other super funds if there are any fees or tax implications, or loss of insurance or other benefits.

Personal view disclaimer
The opinions expressed and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the QSuper Board. No responsibility is taken for the accuracy of any of the information supplied and you should seek advice for your circumstances.