Pre-Covid, decades of data demonstrated the rise of women in the workforce. Even though the wage gap persisted, more women were joining the labour market every year. But pandemic job losses disproportionately impacted women and since 2020, the uphill climb to workforce equality has grown even steeper. A significant number of women were forced to drop out of the labour force entirely in order to care for children or other relatives during the pandemic – and now they're being left behind in the economic recovery.

 What do we lose with less gender balance in the workplace? It's more than a question of social justice. This is an issue with local, national and global repercussions. Gender inequality doesn't only affect individuals; it impacts entire economies. More and better jobs for women benefit individuals, families, communities, companies, and countries – because gender equality in the workforce stimulates overall economic growth.

Your challenge is to think of a way to promote workplace equality. The solution you propose might be an innovative idea to offer women and girls more opportunities for financial empowerment so that we can close the gender pay gap – or it might be an idea for bringing women who've been forced to drop out of the labour market back into the workforce. What would it take to bring back female workers? Reskilling programs? Child care solutions? Flextime? Think big and submit your most innovative idea!

Solutions meeting this challenge might involve things such as:

• education and training
• recruitment and job placement
• mentoring and career development
• special "returnship" programs akin to internships but for experienced workers
• professional development opportunities, particularly in leadership training and negotiating skills
• more flexible work arrangements, such as job sharing, flextime, and remote work
• more family supports, such as childcare or eldercare programs, tutors to relieve employees of obligations to supervise their children's remote learning, or workplace-based communal services
• access to entrepreneurship education and start-up funding so those who've lost employment can make their own jobs