Gender parity for women in the workplace could take 134 years to achieve worldwide – World Economic Forum 

Gender parity for women in the workplace could take five generations or 134 years to achieve worldwide as a result of ongoing signs of post-pandemic recovery in economies and labour markets. 

This was reported by the World Economic Forum based on its Global Gender Gap Report 2024.  

According to calculations by the World Bank Chief Economist, Indermit Gill women can greatly boost the struggling global economy by increasing global gross domestic product by 20%; but noted that this can happen only when policies are accelerated and other reforms to remove the many barriers to their progress are made. 

He stated this at the launch of the World Bank’s ‘Women, Business, and the Law 2024‘ report earlier this year.  

Reports on women in the labour force 

Data from the World Economic Forum, inclusive of data from the World Bank, International Labour Organization, and Linkedin reveals the state of women in the labour market, presenting the gaps and opportunities for improvement. 

• The World Bank reports that women’s participation in the labour force across the 101 countries tracked over the past 18 years has surged beyond 2023 levels, increasing from 63.5% to 65.7%.  

• The overall Economic Participation and Opportunity gap closed by 17 years since last year’s edition, though it remains the second-largest gap to bridge, with wide variations between countries.  

• Global unemployment rates are back to pre-pandemic levels, but the International Labour Organization predicts they will increase this year given the signs of slowing productivity, growing inequalities between higher- and lower-income countries, and other factors. 

• Women make up 42% of the global workforce with 31.7% of senior leaders, lagging behind men in nearly every industry and economy, according to LinkedIn data cited in the Forum’s report.  

• While women hold 50% of entry-level positions, they still lack access to the C-suite, with only 25% of top positions. 

• Women occupy nearly half of entry-level positions but just one-quarter of C-suite roles. According to the Head, the Global Public Policy and Economic Graph Team, LinkedIn, Sue Duke, “With the global labour market cooling down from the hiring frenzy of 2020 and 2021, it is female professionals who are losing out. This slowdown comes during a period of workforce transformation. Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is shaking up how we work, with three in four people in desk-based roles now using it in their jobs.” 

• LinkedIn data found that women have a 28% larger share than men of essential soft skills for jobs of the future, including strategic leadership and collaboration. “Adding to this is the growing number of female AI talent, and the advent of GenAI presents an opportunity to help close the gender gap,” Duke said. 

• LinkedIn data indicates that in worsening macroeconomic conditions, there are fewer female jobs at the top. The proportion of women in leadership roles serves as a bellwether metric for overall employment parity, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2024.

Industry-specific gender gaps 

The World Economic Forum and data from other sources also report the following on women’s participation across industries: 

• The number of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) jobs has been steadily growing since 2016, but they still make up only 28.2% of the workforce. The report notes a particularly steep “drop to the top” in this sector, with C-suite positions harder to access than in non-STEM occupations. 

• Women are making significant gains in Artificial Intelligence (AI) talent as technology becomes increasingly vital to business transformation.  

New LinkedIn data reveals that the concentration of female talent in AI engineering has more than doubled since 2016. While women remain underrepresented compared to men in the industry, female participation in sectors like Technology, Information, and Media is on the rise. Gender parity in AI is also improving in the Education, Professional Services, Manufacturing, and Technology sectors. 

• Skilling is vital to all, but the report notes gender differences in skilling profiles among men and women engaging in the technological transition and the possibilities they have in the future of work. 

• Coursera data shows gender parity in online courses for collaboration, leadership, teaching, mentoring, empathy, and social influence.  

However, it remains low in AI and big data (30%), programming (31%), and networks and cybersecurity (31%), hindering the closure of workforce gaps.