Widespread burnout and lack of flexible work continue to hinder working women’s career progress, according to a new Deloitte Global report: ‘Women @ Work: A global outlook’. Deloitte Global conducted a survey of 5,000 women in 10 countries, including 500 working women in the UK, to understand the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on women’s personal and professional lives. Stress, burnout, and limited chances to advance are driving women away from their employers. The UK survey revealed a decline in women’s mental wellbeing: 47% of women say their stress levels are higher than they were a year ago, while almost half (46%) feel burned out and 47% say their mental health is ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’. The research also found that 30% have taken time off work because of mental health concerns, yet only 45% feel comfortable talking about these concerns in the workplace. Compared to the UK and global average, the proportion of burnout is greater amongst younger women and women in ethnic minority groups (58%/51%). Women are also more likely to be looking for a new role than they were a year ago. 47% want to leave their employer in the next two years and only 9% plan to stay with their current employer for more than five years. Reasons for leaving include burnout (39%), no opportunities to advance (20%), and poor work/life balance (17%). Over a quarter (28%) rate their job satisfaction and motivation as poor or very poor and 43% feel less optimistic about their career opportunities compared to a year ago. Jackie Henry, managing partner for people and purpose at Deloitte UK, said: “These findings are alarming and the number of women reporting increased stress and burnout is of significant concern. It is clear that employers are struggling to address the issue with burnout being the top driver for those women currently looking for new employment. The findings of this research show the importance of actions beyond policy—those that truly address and embed wellbeing, flexibility, and a respectful and inclusive ‘everyday culture’.” Harassment and microaggressions are on the rise—and often go unreported. 56% of women have experienced harassment and microaggressions over the past year at work, an increase since the 2021 report (52%). Only a small proportion of these behaviours are reported (33%) and women still fear reprisals for speaking up: 26% did not think they would be taken seriously and 16% were concerned the behaviour would get worse. Women from ethnic minorities are more likely to experience non inclusive behaviours, such as someone taking credit for their idea (14% vs 10%) and repeated disparaging comments about their gender (9% vs 3%). Flexibility remains limited and hybrid work presents additional challenges. Many organisations have introduced flexible and hybrid work models, although many women report they have yet to feel the benefits of these new ways of working. Only 37% of women say their employers offer flexible working policies, and when asked about policies introduced by their organisation during the pandemic, only 23% mentioned flexibility around where and when they work. 95% of respondents believe that requesting flexible working will affect their likelihood of promotion. Women who have changed their working hours since the start of the pandemic or work part time are much more likely than those who haven’t changed their hours to feel burned out, stressed, less optimistic about their career prospects, and less comfortable talking about mental health in the workplace. 66% of women who have changed their working hours say their stress levels are higher than a year ago, compared to 22% who have not changed their working hours. Hybrid working presents additional challenges. The implementation of hybrid work has presented additional challenges. This year’s survey also found that women who work in a hybrid way are significantly more likely to report experiencing microaggressions (66%) than those who work mainly in their workplace (29%) or in a remote way (45%). 52% of women who work in hybrid environments feel they have been excluded from important meetings, and 42% say they do not have enough exposure to leaders, a critical component of sponsorship and career progression. Worryingly, hybrid work appears to not be delivering the predictability that women with caring responsibilities may need, with only 34% saying their employer has set clear expectations when it comes to how and where they are expected to work. Henry adds: “Many employers have implemented new ways of working designed to improve flexibility, but this research shows that the new arrangements run the risk of excluding the very people who could most benefit from them, with the majority of the women we polled having experienced exclusion when working in a hybrid environment. Demonstrating the need for organisations to listen to their people. Building and maintaining a truly inclusive culture should be at the forefront of every corporate agenda. People need to feel like they belong and their different backgrounds and individual circumstances are respected. “Organisations need to address burnout, make mental wellbeing a priority, and approach hybrid working with inclusive and flexible policies that actually work for women. There is a unique opportunity to build upon the progress already made to ensure women of all backgrounds can thrive in an equal and inclusive workplace.”

Nottingham City Council could have wrongly spent another £25.759 million of funds, according to an investigation into accounts and council housing money. The news comes after a rare Section 114 notice was served by the council, following the recent discovery that it unlawfully diverted cash from its housing revenue account (HRA) to general funds and had ‘unlawfully’ credited £15.86 million to pay for all council services. CIPFA (the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) in conjunction with Richard Penn, a local government expert, has produced a 19 page report and recommended that all proposals to address the issues outlined in both reports are accepted and implemented in full. Richard Penn’s report makes a series of recommendations, including bringing housing services currently provided by Nottingham City Homes as an Arms’ Length Management Organisation back under the control of the City Council to ensure that HRA money is appropriately ring-fenced. Reverting housing services back to the host local authority is now a common practice. The Executive Board report highlights that from an initial 70 Housing ALMOs (Arms’ Length Management Organisations) created in the early 2000s to gain Decent Homes grant funding from Government, there are now only just over 20 ALMOs still operating. The Penn report also recommends strengthening the council’s housing authority role with improved financial knowledge, more detailed involvement of senior officers and auditor scrutiny. It states that the payments from the HRA to the general fund were made ‘in an environment where there were many proposals to reduce expenditure or increase income in order to maintain services and avoid cutting jobs’ but concludes that it was not ‘a mechanism conceived to divert HRA funds to the General Fund’. CIPFA also reports serious concerns about the lack of transparency in HRA reporting and the need to separate HRA from non-HRA activity in the work of Nottingham City Homes. City Council Leader, Cllr David Mellen, said: “This is a clearly a setback, particularly as the council has been making significant progress on improving our financial governance over the last year. This issue demonstrates the importance of that work and how thorough it has been. “Last year we took swift and firm action to issue a Section 114 Notice and commission two independent reports into the circumstances surrounding the HRA funding. “The findings of these investigations show that the finance and governance arrangements around the ring-fencing of the HRA fell seriously short of acceptable standards, although we are disappointed that this wasn’t flagged up at the time by the council’s external auditors. “Since these decisions were first taken, new leadership and senior management have shown determination to take the action necessary to address these issues and move forward positively. “I would like to reassure our council tenants that we are committed to dealing with these past issues, ensuring that lessons are learnt so that these mistakes cannot be repeated in future.” “It’s important to make clear that the funding in question has been used for purposes that benefit local people but that are not an appropriate use of what is effectively tenants’ money. “It also needs to be recognised that in addition to achieving decent homes standards, Nottingham City Homes has worked to improve core housing services, empower tenants and bring about significant improvements to housing stocks, including the response to fire safety following Grenfell and home insulation works. Cllr Linda Woodings, the council’s Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Heritage, said: “Bringing housing services back under the direct control of the council is something that has been recommended we do to address the issues raised in the reports. We will ensure that listening to tenants and ensuring their voices are heard is a priority as we work to continually improve services for them in future.” City Council Chief Executive, Mel Barrett, said: “These reports identify underlying issues around governance and finance which the council is addressing as part of our ongoing improvement work through our Together for Nottingham Plan. “While the reports bring to light the serious failings in past practice, Nottingham people may be reassured in knowing that the new leadership of the council have, at every stage, taken steps to identify, understand and own these issues. We have invited independent scrutiny and ensured open, honest and transparent management of our financial governance to ensure compliance is improved for future practice. We are determined to provide reassurance to local residents, the Improvement and Assurance Board and Government that we understand what went wrong and that we can and will put it right.”