Who are your Builders of the Table?

Today is International Women’s Day, a day for celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.  I was privileged to have a leadership role within the United Nations ILO, the UN agency charged with all things World of Work. But imagine my surprise when I came to the leadership table on my very first day and only saw one other female face looking at me!  We have much to celebrate today, but we still have so much work to do for the advancement of all women around the globe.

Multiple crises, including the impact of the war in Ukraine and the unevenness of COVID recovery has made the job of advancing women even harder. But beyond investing in women as the right thing to do, it is economically essential for the future survival of our planet.

We are in a true crisis when it comes to labor supply growth. Simply put, we don’t have enough people for the jobs available and the vacuum of skills mismatch for the jobs of the future grows larger and larger.  Innovation and technology are a significant part of the solution for labor shortages and gender transformative policies will be essential to ensure women are not left behind. Did you know that of all the Artificial Intelligence (AI) workers in the world, less than 22% are women?  And a recent analysis of AI tools shows that 44% demonstrates gender bias?  But before we can talk female careers in AI, we must improve the digital divide and enhance digital literacy for women. If we don’t do that, we won’t have women fully equipped for the tech jobs that are becoming our norm, not the exception, for our future.

Increasing women’s employment opportunities in technology and other sectors will address a variety of our world’s ills, but without the enabling environment—government policies that support these efforts, we simply cannot get there. For example, we know that Care policies are central to supporting women at work, but we need more “jet fuel” to get these initiatives enacted into actual laws across the globe.  Well, the good news is there is a new policy “rocket” in this regard, the Care Policy Investment Simulator, a joint initiative of the UN ILO and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Containing data from more than 80 countries with the depth of statistical indicators previously unseen, this tool not only shows what is needed for an enabling environment for women to thrive, it shows the actual investment requirements for care leave policies and the benefits in terms of job generation. It is a tool we all can and should be using.

While my time at the ILO leadership table was lonely as a woman, I’m thrilled to see the ILO now advancing women leaders such as new Assistant Director Manuela Tomei and Chidi King, Chief Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, where the groundbreaking work to empower women resides.  On this day I also salute women in the private sector, including Tu Rinsche, HP’s human rights lead, who is committed to addressing these critical issues in tech. We don’t just need more women leaders at the table, we need more women building the table!

So, on International Women’s Day, join me in celebrating and investing in your “builders of the table.”  Our future depends upon it!