Working Women in South Africa Report 2025
Winning with Women: A Talent Blueprint for Business Leaders and Employers
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The largest study of its kind!
For employers, this report serves as a data-backed resource to help you build high-performing teams by understanding what women value in their careers. The findings offer valuable insight into what attracts and retains skilled women, the barriers they encounter, and the opportunities employers have to adapt in order to stay competitive in a changing talent landscape.
The 2025 Working Women in South Africa Report, compiled by RecruitMyMom, a specialist working women-focused talent agency, presents the largest survey of its kind, incorporating insights from 3,742 skilled women across various industries, career levels, and life stages.
Key Findings
- Gender diversity and working conditions have improved.
- Financial security is the primary motivator for working women.
- Women are ambitious, both in their pursuit of financial security and career growth.
- Barriers to career growth persist, with interesting nuances for age brackets.
- High levels of dissatisfaction exist in the workplace with almost half our sample actively looking for alternative jobs despite being employed -this jumps significantly when employers increase on-site hours.
- Women are more loyal employees than the average employee, displaying longer tenure at a single employer.
- Flexibility is a non-negotiable for retaining female talent and this does not only relate to reduced working hours.
How to win the war on talent
Attraction, development and growth strategies for winning with women at work.
How To Win The war on Talent. Attraction, Development and Growth Strategies for Winning with Women at Work.
The data is clear: more women are entering and graduating from tertiary institutions than ever before, creating an expanding talent pipeline of skilled professionals. There is an opportunity for SA businesses to take advantage of the findings in the report to position themselves to attract and retain this growing talent pool.
Curious? Download the reportAre Workplaces Getting Better for Women?
- Gender diversity is improving.
- Explore working conditions for women at work by industry
- Understand the promotion gap impact
- How to use the loyalty factor for business growth
Women are Ambitious
- Financial stability is a primary motivator
- Other motivators for wanting to work
- Women and dependants
- The sole-income earning woman
Talent Attraction and Retention Insights
- What working women want from their career
- Factors women take into consideration when looking for a job by age and race
- What company benefits matter most
- Understanding career advancement barriers
- How to grow senior female talent
The Flexibility Dilemma
- Balancing work location and work hours
- Most women seek full-time hours
- The impact of RTO mandates
- How wellbeing support needs differ by race
Future-proofing South Africa’s workforce
The findings from this report makes one thing clear: women are indispensable to South Africa’s economic future. They are entering the workforce in increasing numbers, gaining higher qualifications, are ambitious and taking on greater financial responsibilities in their households. The business case for attracting and retaining skilled women has never been stronger.
