Almost half of women are concerned about their personal safety at work, or while travelling to and from work, and half said they are more stressed about this than a year earlier, according to Deloitte’s Women&Work survey of 5,000 working women from ten countries across all continents.
Despite certain progress, women complain about a lack of support for mental health care in the workplace. Still fewer women say they feel supported by their employer in balancing work responsibilities with their personal lives, which has forced some of them to change jobs.
“Although we have seen small improvements since last year, women globally, and Czech women included, are experiencing increased stress and pressure, both in the workplace and in their personal lives,” said Deloitte’s human capital expert Zuzana Kostiviarova. “At home, most of them are burdened with most of the housework, and in some countries women also feel that some of their rights are jeopardised. In addition, they experience inappropriate behaviour at work and fear for their safety.”
Women’s safety concerns are often based on experience. According to the survey, one in ten of the female respondents have been harassed while commuting to work or on a business trip, and 16% have encountered customers or clients who have harassed them or behaved in a way that made them feel uncomfortable. Nearly one in ten women have been harassed by a colleague.
In the past 12 months, 31% of respondents had experienced microaggression, 4% sexual harassment, and 8% other types of harassment at work. In addition, a quarter of the women reported that people in senior positions in their companies had made inappropriate actions or comments towards them.
Half of those polled said their stress levels are higher than a year ago, and about a half said they were worried or very worried about their mental health. Mental health is one of the top three most pressing issues for women worldwide, behind only financial security and the protection of their rights.
The survey results suggest a link between working hours and mental health. Half of women who work only their contracted hours describe their mental health as good. For those who regularly work overtime, this proportion drops to 23%. Only 37% of women report that they feel able to fully disengage from work.
“Despite these worrying findings, more than half of women said they do not receive enough support from their employers when it comes to mental health, and two-thirds of women feel uncomfortable talking about it at the workplace. Yet there is a marked improvement on the findings in 2023, when even more women reported these worrying experiences,” said Kostiviarova.
