Julia Gillard says Covid-led shift to remote working could render some female employees 'invisible'

[niyad]

Julia Gillard says Covid-led shift to remote working could render some female employees ‘invisible’

Former PM joins panel discussion of pandemic’s effect on workplace gender equality and urges bosses not to overlook women

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Julia Gillard said unequal division of domestic labour could lead to women working from home more and missing out on the ‘visibility’ of being in the office. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Former prime minister Julia Gillard says women risk becoming “invisible behind the screen” during the Covid-led transition to remote working and has urged bosses to ensure female employees working from home aren’t overlooked for promotion. Australia’s first female prime minister on Wednesday also welcomed the record number of women in Anthony Albanese’s cabinet, calling it “very important” as the Labor ministry was sworn in. “As people have gone back to work and the rigour of lockdowns has ended, has this given us an opportunity to see change in the workplace?” Gillard asked a panel of gender equality experts at an event hosted by her Global Institute for Women’s Leadership. Gillard said on Wednesday that increased flexibility was “fantastic” for workers, but with women disproportionately taking on more domestic labour, they could more often work from home and potentially miss out on opportunities given to office-based employees.


“There’s a risk that if nothing else changes in five years’ time, what we’ll see is a pattern where women have chosen, particularly in the family formation stage, disproportionately to work from home,” Gillard said. “And men, who have been much more regular attenders at the office … that very visibility, if nothing else changes, will show in who’s been considered for promotion, sponsorship, mentorship. The women will be kind of invisible behind the screen.”

. . .


“We know we’ve got to monitor the effects of this hybrid working on things we already track, around gender pay gap, promotions, where people have legitimate concerns.”

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/02/julia-gillard-says-covid-led-shift-to-remote-working-could-render-some-female-employees-invisible

[PoliticAverse]

1. So increased flexibility is "fantastic" but bad? n/t