Hybrid working setup empowers women to make bold career choices: report

Women from minority groups seeing new career opportunities spring up.

Hybrid working conditions helped improve the career trajectory for women, including those in minority groups, empowering them to make bold and risky career choices, according to a report by IWG.

More than half (53%) of the 1,000 female hybrid workers surveyed found that hybrid working gave them opportunities to seek higher positions in their work, rising to nearly two-thirds (61%) of women from minority groups.

Close to three-fourths (73%) of women from minority backgrounds said that hybrid working opened up new career opportunities previously unavailable to them.

Women in minority groups reported that the flexibility of a hybrid setup: enabled them to be more effective in their work (44%); provided opportunities to learn about their roles (49%); and increased their visibility with their company’s leadership (32%).

The flexible working arrangement allowed nearly half (43%) of women overall to pursue a different industry. An overwhelming majority (89%) also revealed that hybrid working allowed for a better balance between work and family responsibilities.

“Women, particularly from a range of diverse backgrounds, are actively shaping their careers around the flexibility that hybrid working offers,” said Fatima Koning, group chief commercial officer at IWG. “This shift is not only enhancing work/life balance but also fostering a wealth of new professional opportunities.”