Gender diversity is key to business success. Post pandemic, gender equity seems to be in danger of becoming less of a priority for many businesses as they establish “what matters most when everything matters”. In 2019, 18% of senior vice president roles and 19% of vice president roles were filled by women. 4 years later, this has dropped to 14% and 16% respectively. Senior women are leaving high positions at an accelerating rate.

How Businesses can Reduce Barriers to Re-Entry to the Workforce for Over 50s or How to Reverse The Great Retirement

In the last 2 years, around 700,000 workers aged 50+ have left the jobs market. This is of particular significance to the FM sector as it has an aging workforce which has suffered from a loss of labour over the past 2 years due to Brexit, the pandemic, early retirement, and other factors. This means we have lost some of the expertise needed to productively bring the next generation of FM professionals into the sector. More experienced professionals are a boon to any sector as they can take on a mentoring role for young people who will do their work in the future.