Why are more women leaving their jobs than men?

“Women leaders are leaving their companies at the highest rate we’ve ever seen. They aren’t leaving the workforce entirely but are choosing to leave for companies with better career opportunities, flexibility, and a real commitment to DEI,” says Sheryl Sandberg, founder of Lean In.

Pay gap petition

One of the potential reasons could be the gender pay gap that continues to plague women who do equal work but remain woefully underappreciated. In New Zealand, there is a movement to force change.

Mindthegap, an advocacy group that campaigns for the public reporting of gender and ethnicity pay gaps, recently handed over an 8,559-signature petition calling on the government to bring gender and ethnicity pay gap reporting into legislation.

October 20 marked 50 years since the Equal Pay law was passed in New Zealand, making it illegal for men to be paid more than women for the same work, but Jo Cribb and Delwyn Stuart, cofounders of Mindthegap, say this is the time to honour those who fought for the change in law by committing to ensure New Zealanders are finally paid fairly in New Zealand.

“We know that if the government made pay gap reporting mandatory, more businesses would become aware of their pay gaps and start to address them, eventually making New Zealand a fairer place to work,” says Stuart.