According to a report published by Women in Revenue (WIR), a non-profit organization created to empower and elevate women in sales and marketing, revops, and customer success careers, the tightening economy impacted women last year, elevating job security over compensation as their biggest challenge. The report also confirmed the trend of having to do more with less as respondents said their budgets and staff were slashed. The data is part of the organization’s sixth annual State of Women in Revenue report, “Career Success vs. Quality of Life: Balancing Professional and Personal Goals for Women in Revenue,” which was released today. The report details the biggest challenges for women in business and highlights the benefits they find most important when considering a new job.
With 90 percent of company leaders planning to return to office mandates this year, smaller budgets and less support, women are seeing diminishing work/life balance in their careers. More than 40 percent of women cited work/life balance as a top challenge.
“Work/life balance has been a persistent struggle for women, but that doesn’t have to be the case,” said Debe Rapson, board co-chair for Women in Revenue. “The past four years have proven that remote work and flexible work hours don’t have to impact productivity. Our community of women in revenue-generating roles is pragmatic. If they are seeing compensation and job security softening, they’re going to look to these benefits to compensate and achieve the quality of life they want.”
The report also found that the economy has impacted compensation and career mobility for women in revenue, with fewer promotions and salary increases. The number of women that reported receiving a raise in the past year fell from 60 percent in the 2023 survey to 40 percent this year, with a similar decline in those receiving bonuses, which fell from 30 percent to 24 percent year over year.
With cutbacks adding to stress, a bleaker outlook for compensation, and the prospect of losing location flexibility, women in revenue remain a retention risk. More than 45 percent of all women surveyed considered quitting their jobs last year. More than one-third of women in leadership roles considered leaving. A full 15 percent did quit. For employers considering how to attract and retain women in revenue roles, here are the top five benefits women said are important when considering whether to take a new job or stay at their current one:
- Work from home option
- Flexible work hours
- Transparent compensation info
- Training and professional development
- Top healthcare
Finally, discrimination continues to plague the majority of women in the workforce. The survey included the open-ended question, “Have you experienced discrimination in your workplace?” More than half of all respondents (400+ women) took the time to share a story of discrimination in their workplace. In addition to sexual harassment, the responses included words and phrases like “bro culture,” “abuse,” “excluded,” “sexism,” and “passed over.”
Rapson added, “We were disappointed, but not surprised, to read the experiences of women who shared gut-wrenching, yet familiar stories of discrimination. It’s imperative that we not only compensate women equally, but that we eliminate discrimination from their experience in the workforce. It’s unacceptable.”
Explore HRtech News for the latest Tech Trends in Human Resources Technology.
