While studies have shown that men are more physically susceptible to COVID-19, women are bearing the economic brunt. We explore the insights behind why start-up InHerSight is looking to make things more balanced by offering an easy way for women to find and secure jobs that align with their personal priorities.
InHerSight, which lets users search and review 'thousands of women-rated companies', has launched an app that aims to help women realize their career goals. Users set up a free and anonymous account, within which they can set goals for job-seeking, from ‘Get Hired’ to ‘Find Balance’.
Rather than focusing solely on location and salary, InHerSight allows for a more nuanced and holistic approach, whereby candidates can search for roles based on childcare, maternity leave, and mentorship policies, alongside other ‘must-haves’. They can also ask the community questions and access podcasts, articles, and other content based around their career goals - with the community element offering an anonymous advice approach. “We’re excited to provide women with such a tailored job search tool and resource for navigating their careers,” says co-founder and CEO Ursula Mead. “Our hope is that women using the app after being laid off or while furloughed can jumpstart their search using the tools we’ve provided.”
The first wave of COVID-19 lay-offs in the US saw 700,000 people become unemployed, nearly 60% of whom were women. As such, women are in a particularly precarious situation, and they’ll no doubt be looking for help to secure jobs that match their needs.
Even before the pandemic, workplace wellbeing was growing in importance, with 68% of global workers citing it as an influential factor in job selection. And amid the stress of COVID-19, people are relying on their employers even more for things above and beyond day-to-day work-related support. In fact, a global survey found that people trust their employers more than the media when it comes to identifying credible news about the crisis.
Louis Tozer is a Behavioural Analyst of Social Sciences at Canvas8. He holds a M.A. in History from UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies and is a former Research Assistant at The Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory in Belgrade. He can often be found in the pub with friends or at Roots Hall, the home of Southend United.
