Less than 60% of companies in Colombia have gender policies

One of the most serious consequences of COVID-19 was the loss of jobs around the world. In Latin America alone, at the most critical point of the pandemic, more than 30 million jobs were lost, according to data from the COVID-19 Labour Observatory of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

In the local context, figures confirm that 1.5 million women were left without work as a result of the health emergency, according to the Colombian Women's Observatory.

However, the effects of unemployment have not been the same for all. Young people, workers with fewer years of schooling, informal workers and, in particular, women, have been the most affected by the labor crisis.

In the region, the rate of female job loss is 6 per cent, while that of men is 3 per cent. And although women made up only 42% of the working population in the pre-pandemic, today they account for 58.5% of job losses and are taking longer to recover jobs.

But if it rains in Latin America, it does not escape through Colombia. In the country, indicators from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) show that for every ten men who returned to employment after losing it in the pandemic, only one woman managed to reactivate work.

In fact, currently the gap between their unemployment rate in relation to them stands at 8.2 percentage points, while in 2021 it stood at 6.2, according to the National Administrative Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE).

Other numbers indicate that Colombia ranked second as the country with the highest unemployment in Latin America, with women being the most affected: 39%. Today, Dane confirms that female unemployment stands at 19.4%.

However, although in the last 10 years the country has made significant progress on gender issues, the figures reconfirm that there is still a significant disparity in the opportunities afforded to women, especially in leadership positions.

A recent study by the College of Higher Management Studies (CESA) revealed, after consulting 356 recognized organizations in Colombia, that only 25% of them had a woman as CEO and that 30% of them served on boards of directors.

As a result of this worrying outlook, the IDB, through its 2025 Vision 'Reinvesting in the Americas', highlights the importance of considering gender equity and diversity inclusion as the cornerstone of efforts to promote Latin America's inclusive, equitable and sustainable recovery.

Thus, it is pertinent to visualize the good practices that Colombian companies should adopt in order to develop a culture of gender equality, especially in the area of talent recruitment.

A recent report by Talentu, a talent accelerator in Latin America, revealed the five best practices that a company must develop to develop a true culture of gender equality:

1. Make a real analysis of the biases that exist within the organization.

2. Analyze each of the people who have the option to grow in a given position.

3. Develop recruitment rules, that is, gender policies that force the company to be diverse and open.

4. Implement automation processes and technology.

5. Encourage opportunities for women to demonstrate their talent.

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