This pandemic has set gender equality back three decades. Globally, women’s job losses due to Covid-19 are 1.8 times greater than men’s, according to McKinsey. We haven’t seen such low levels of female participation in the workforce since the early Eighties. As we start to consider life post-pandemic, we have an opportunity to build back better, and ensure that the “new normal” is a better place for women in the workforce.

A key learning we should take from the past year is that work is not dictated by a particular place. Our recent research revealed that only 12% of UK workers want to return to an office every day post-pandemic. The ability to work anywhere, at any time, has become a business imperative with the potential to benefit both employers and employees, regardless of gender. But it might have even greater potential for women. In 2019, the ONS found that women may be sacrificing salary in exchange for shorter journeys to work, creating the so-called “commuting pay gap”. If we remove that need to commute by enabling remote and flexible working, women may be more willing to pursue and accept better, higher-level jobs which they would previously have ruled out due to the location of the office.

One further clear benefit of the forced move to a 100% remote workforce is the democratisation of organisations. Even in multi-national corporations, there is a tendency to work most closely with the people in your geography. When everyone is just a video call away, it’s easier to have more people “in the room”, and access better diversity of thought. This leads to a more even playing field so we do need to be careful that we don’t lose this opportunity to improve on returning to the office. Many businesses will likely move to a “hybrid” model of working, where employees have the choice to work from home or the office from one day to the next. In this scenario, we must ensure that the office itself doesn’t become a “clubhouse” for one particular group who choose to work there, whether that’s older workers who don’t need to be home to collect their children from school, or younger workers who value the opportunity to socialise with colleagues. Leaders need to be aware of the culture in the office and quickly mitigate any situation where it is becoming less inclusive.

It took us three decades to get to where we were before Covid. We won’t be able to get that back overnight. But business leaders now have an opportunity to role model behaviours they’d like to see and build back better post-pandemic to ensure the “new normal” offers an inclusive work environment where diverse employees can thrive and be rewarded appropriately for their success.