Survey finds many Australian employers value men over women, prefer workers without children

Updated

A large number of Australian businesses prefer male employees without children or relationships, according to a survey by workplace management consultancy Kronos.

Kronos's Peter Harte says research found 38 per cent believe men are better employees than women, while just 19 per cent of employers prefer female workers.

The survey of 500 Australian employers also found 40 per cent prefer workers who do not have children, compared to 18 per cent who prefer those who do.

"I was pretty amazed by the survey findings," Mr Harte said.

"The fact that a large majority of businesses thought that their ideal worker was a male, without relationships or interests, who wants to work lots of hours, is particularly concerning.

"With the demographics of the workforce changing, Australian business can't afford to not tap into women and mature-age workers."

Elizabeth Broderick from the Human Rights Commission (HRC) says the survey's findings are distressing.

"To have such a large proportion of businesses who say they prefer men just speaks to the fact that that is the model that's in use in many organisations," she said.

Discrimination against employees under scrutiny

Aimee Maree Forsstrom used to work for a large bank in its male-dominated IT security department.

But she says frequent gender based discrimination and sexual advances forced her to resign.

'"I was very shocked. I didn't know how to take it," she said.

"It forced me to not just leave that role, but also forced me to leave that focus of work, which was something that I really loved doing."

The HRC has also been investigating the extent of discrimination against employees taking parental leave.

"Often parental leave and pregnancy is a career killer. It's a point that takes many women out of the labour market," Ms Broderick said.

Women paid 18.5 per cent less than men

Ms Broderick says equal pay must also be addressed, as women currently receive an average salary that is 18.5 per cent less than their male counterparts.

But she does acknowledge that there has been growing corporate interest in gender-based diversity policies in recent years.

"That's because there's been so much work done over the last decade, particularly on flexible work and family flexible work practices," she said.

"Business is getting better. Smart businesses realise that to attract and retain female talent is very important."

Employer groups contacted by the ABC chose not to comment.





Topics: work, community-and-society, discrimination, business-economics-and-finance, australia

First posted