The UK wholesale sector is becoming a great place to work but a lack of respect for women is still a key challenge, according to new research from the latest Lumina Intelligence.
The annual study, commissioned by Women in Wholesale, looked at trend analysis over recent years to identify areas of support. Key improvements include a drop in gender discrimination in the workplace, with the percentage of women who said they had experienced such issues dropping from 57% in 2019 to 36% in 2021.
20% of respondents said support for diversity has become more important since COVID, while 65% said it was as important as it was before. 54% said their company is doing enough to achieve gender balance at the top. Meanwhile, wellbeing support in the sector is also positive, with 44% of companies having mental health first aiders and 33% offering meditation or mindfulness seminars.
However, women are still facing some of the same personal challenges as before. 28% of respondents cited a ‘lack of respect’ as the biggest challenge for women working in the sector, with no improvements since 2019, followed by lack or opportunities (20%). 44% said that career development is the main area of their job that they need support with, followed by time management (27%), and managing people (24%).
75% of respondents said they were offered more flexibility in terms of working hours during COVID and 78% had more flexibility with location – much of this will continue into the longer term.
Elit Rowland, founder of WiW, noted: “Overall, it’s a really positive picture for careers in our sector. The majority of businesses are offering flexible and remote working, and mental health support. But the issue of respect for women and career progress cannot be ignored and will play an important role in our agenda moving forward.”
Jill Livesey, MD of Lumina Intelligence, added: “The study reveals continued progress in gender discrimination and a positive response to improvements in diversity. WiW has clearly been a driving force for change and providing support. It was encouraging to see more flexible support continuing for employees who are carers and have children.”
