Male Employers Twice As Likely to Support a Public Holiday for International Women's Day – but Real Change, Not Tokenism, is Needed

One in four male employers (25%) think International Women’s Day (IWD) should be a public holiday, compared to just one in eight (13%) women employers, according to a survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). But IWD, observed on 8 March, is best marked by employers taking action to remedy discrimination in the workplace rather than adopt token gestures which make employers feel good about themselves for a day but don’t have the impact that women employees deserve or want for the longer term. 

It seems most of the employers surveyed agree with us on the need for real action. One in six (17%) employers think IWD should be a public holiday, but the majority (72%) are against the idea. Just 5% think that IWD should be a public holiday for women only.

The idea is a bit more popular in London, with 26% of employers saying IWD should be a public holiday for all and 9% saying it should be a public holiday for women only.  

There is much need to improve equality for women in the workplace but the REC agrees with most of those surveyed who don’t think a day off is the answer. Instead it wants employers to use IWD as an opportunity to create plans to improve recruitment processes which will increase the diversity of the workplace and create equal opportunity. 

Sophie Wingfield, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the REC, said:

“Women deserve action not token gestures. International Women’s Day should be celebrated, but a day off isn’t going to eradicate the gender pay gap or other forms of discrimination that still hold women back. Employers should use IWD to take action to increase diversity and equality in the workplace. Making sure recruitment processes are free from bias is a good place to start. We recommend deleting gendered language from job ads and offering flexible working from the outset are simple steps to attracting more women applicants. We want an end to discriminatory work practices and a day off would do little to achieve this.

“Closing the gender pay gap would add £150 billion to gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025. Increasing diversity in the workplace is not only the right thing to do, it makes business sense. Despite this, often unwittingly, organisations are reducing the likelihood of women getting jobs because of outdated recruitment processes. Recruiters are well placed to help employers adopt best practice recruitment. The facts speak for themselves - more diverse executive teams have been shown to out-perform the competition by as much as 21% in terms of earnings.”* 

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• IWD is observed across the world on 8 March to focus attention on women’s rights and equality issues. Twenty-four countries around the world mark IWD as a public holiday, including Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Nepal. It’s also a holiday in China where only women get the day off. 

• In February 2020, we asked the following question to 200 employers as part of our JobsOutlook survey:

International Women’s Day is observed on 8 March to focus on women’s rights and equality. Which of the following comes closest to your view?

- International Women’s Day should be a public holiday for everyone

- International Women’s Day should be a public holiday just for women

- International Women’s Day should not be a public holiday

- Don’t know

• *Research by McKinsey & Company found that closing the gender pay gap would add £150 billion to gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025. They also showed that more diverse executive teams out-perform the competition by as much as 21% in terms of earnings before interest.

JobsOutlook is produced by the REC in partnership with Savanta ComRes. Data were weighted to be representative of UK adults in employment by region, broad industry sector and public/private split. Savanta ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Data tables are available at www.comresglobal.com.

For more information, contact the REC Press Office on 020 7009 2157, 020 7009 2192 or pressoffice@rec.uk.com. Outside of regular office hours, please call 07702 568 829.

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The REC is the voice of the recruitment industry, speaking up for great recruiters. We drive standards and empower recruitment businesses to build better futures for their candidates and themselves. We are champions of an industry which is fundamental to the strength of the UK economy.

Find out more about the Recruitment & Employment Confederation at www.rec.uk.com.