VIDEO: Building a future with equality at its heart

The COVID-19 pandemic has proved more than a health crisis – it’s also a crisis of equality.

For women in the workforce – and particularly for women of color - it has set many back dramatically, with 865,000 women leaving their jobs, compared with 216,000 men, in August and September of last year.

The pandemic has also stalled progress on closing the gender pay gap: Prior to COVID-10, it was expected to take 100 years to narrow the gap of women earning 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. Because of the crisis, UN Women UK research predicts 25 years of that progress has been lost.

As the travel sector climbs out of the pandemic and rebuilds its workforce, industry leaders “need to make sure our action is bolder, more radical, more practical than ever and puts equality at its heart,” says Simon Gallow, advocate of UN Women UK.

Speaking during Phocuswright’s Diversity in Leadership event, Gallow explains why it’s critical for leaders to demonstrate bold leadership, reimagine the workplace and play a role in their communities.

In the session, titled “From Crisis to Recovery: Achieving an Equal Future in a Post-COVID-19 World,” Gallow also shares why he’s optimistic about the future as well as five actions leaders can take now to help women rise.

Watch the full session below.