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Nearly half (48.7%) of the working mothers experience depression, sleep difficulties, health problems and great burnout at work since the "Iron Swords" war began, compared to only 32% of the fathers. In addition, more than 7% of women lost their jobs during the war, compared to only 4% of men. Since the beginning of the war, there has also been a 150% increase in applications by female workers to employment assistance centers. This is according to a survey by the Safety and Legal Institute, which specializes in the fields of knowledge and safety at work and occupational health.
Sharon Israel, CEO of the international marketing and branding company Extra Mail, which works with the largest companies and organizations in Israel, says that "while the conversation focuses on the difficulties of workers returning from the reserves, it is actually the female workers who experience the war with very high mental strengths. As mothers, they connect more emotionally than men to the children's plights, to the horrors of rape and concerns for the fate of the abductees and soldiers. To this must be added the enormous difficulty of functioning as a mother of children and as a professional at the same time, when the spouse is in the reserves."
Women in general, and not only in the current war, are the first victims in the labor market when there is a crisis. We saw it in Corona, and it is of course present even now.
"Even not only in times of crisis. Not long ago, an article was published in Forbes about the impact of AI technologies on women in the workplace. So add that to the list too. 70% of AI users are men compared to only 30% women. AI technology learns the information we give it, the habits of consumption and speech, all dictated mainly by men. We fell again in this too, and very soon we will have a tool here that everyone will use, that biases men. We have gone backwards again."
The harm to women in the employment market is not easy.
"It starts with the fact that women experience more not only health problems but burnout, and when I talk about burnout I mean, first of all, burnout in productivity in the workplace, in creativity and depression that affects all aspects of life. Almost twice as many women lost their jobs because of the war as men. And it's quite clear that, at least in this case, there is another layer of trauma here that is a distinctly feminine sign.
"It's a collective trauma that triggered something in almost everyone. I'm talking about the whole sexual issue, about all the horrors we've read about. Of course, men are also disturbed by this, but add the trauma factor that there are quite a few women here, women whose husbands left the house in October and have not returned for several months".
And there are also many women in the reserves.
"And still the absolute majority is male. It's a difficulty that is added anyway to the imbalance that exists in society in general and in companies in particular."
Israel. "Wives of reservists were legally allowed to work an hour less, and some employers are upset by this"/Michal Bandek
To try to respond to the plight, Sharon Israel formulated a special program to assist working women during the war. According to her, companies and organizations must wake up and be attentive to the hardships arising from the field, looking at the worker as a whole - as an individual with a family, children, career and husband who serves in the reserves. The goal is to create a supportive work environment for them, which takes total responsibility for their well-being, physically and mentally, even beyond working hours.
What is behind the plan?
"We who are involved in the worlds of marketing also look at how the organization conducts itself in its view when it comes to hiring new employees and retaining existing employees. We don't just look at the classic marketing perspective of how you retain your customers. We have a whole department that deals with this whole story of employee retention. And in This thing, we started talking to our customers immediately when the war started, about how they and we are dealing with the impact of the war
. This thing in the center, give it a little more attention and space. This is why we have developed a special program. Our goal, first of all, is to make the various companies understand that they need it. that they must pay special attention to their facts, certainly these days."
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"It's very easy for us to cook for the soldiers when they go to battle, and when they come back everyone hugs them, but there are other combat supporters here who need a hug"/Shlomi Gabai
About two weeks ago, the program began to run among several companies, some of whom are the company's clients, and the goal is to continue forward: "I put aside for a moment the responsibility as an employer that we all have, to give much greater flexibility to women, certainly these days. Women whose partners are in the reserves. And it's not a matter of what in so doing".
In previous interviews I discovered that most companies did mobilize for the sake of the workers.
"I'm not saying no. There are companies that we work with, such as insurance companies or health companies that made amazing programs for the reservists who returned home, which included conversations with psychologists and personal support, which is wonderful. This has already happened immediately in most of the organizations, with the exception of a few that did not do this. They put the reservists in the center and did in-depth work around it. Nevertheless, there is an entire population here that we tend to forget.
"Ultimately, the wives of the reservists, or women in general, are in a very serious predicament in recent months and special attention should be paid to this. This is a subject that is not treated in depth. It's very easy for us to cook for the soldiers when they go to battle, and when they come back everyone hugs them, but there are other combat supporters here who need this hug, certainly when it comes to work."
What does the program include?
"We are building a program whose role is to focus on women in companies and check how we respond to them in terms of tools to allow them to find their resilience first. The program consists of 3-10 sessions, according to the specific needs of each company, and according to the number of participants. We provide practical sessions of programs delivered by certified trainers, which will first allow them to share and understand that they are not experiencing it alone.
"One of the main things that has come up in the last few weeks is that women feel that the sharing and legitimacy to give space to these emotions that float and rise, even when it comes to traumas, comes from the understanding that they are not alone. So there are writing workshops, vision workshops and other tools to deal with it."
"I'm not a psychologist," Israel explains, "but as someone who runs a business in which the majority of women are in the field of technology and for almost 17 years, I understand the advantage of this program on a business level as well. The organization first of all benefits, because these women, who are less productive due to the terrible burnout, can to get out of the stasis whether by activity, doing, giving or anything that will bring back to them the joy of work and the creativity that is so needed
. Something to solve it', and this may be something that explains why many women were more harmed."
Reserve soldiers. "What happens to an employee who returns and knows that he is going to the reserve again in a month and a half?"/Image processing, Reuters
It is known that one of the greatest afflictions is not being able to do anything.
"Many of the women may have felt helpless: 'But what am I going to do', or 'If I do something I can feel better.' And to understand what tools I need to return and find creativity and productivity in order to get the most out of myself.
"We provide tools for writing inspiration and vision boards, not for another five years, but for another six months from today. This is how I put myself on the path of regaining the ability to look forward. Because that's where the biggest difficulty lies, looking ahead."
More women were fired during the war. Is it because of the nature of the roles that characterize women in these fields?
"Absolutely not. I think that in most cases it is a business idea. I have an employee who, as soon as the war started, she moved to work from home. She lives in alarm areas and because of the anxiety of leaving the children alone, she decided that she is not ready to come to the office. Of course I allowed it. The problem is that not all employers allow it. Reservists' wives, for example, were allowed by law to work an hour less, and some employers are upset by this. Of course, I will not start the discussion on whether it is legitimate that it falls financially on the employers, since that is not the point.
"Nonetheless, in terms of profit, if I had 10% workers in the reserves, who received a salary from the state, I paid them all the differences. And what happens to an employee who returns and knows that he is going to the reserves again in a month and a half? I cannot, on the one hand, assign him any project, And on the other hand, I will never fire him. But the state does need to help. It doesn't help, and those who pay the price are mostly workers, who are supposed to fill the void and aren't always found. It's sad."
"The responsibility right now is on all of us," adds Israel. "It is true that in a reformed country we would not absorb this, but this is the situation and every organization should be flexible with its employees, and be much more patient and personal in dealing with the specific needs. You don't know who is going through what, and there is a critical role here for both managers and HR, to identify Also things people don't say."
How much has the situation of women in the technological labor market improved in recent years?
"Our status has improved, but there is still work. More people understand the power of women and their value, but there is more work. It's like the story of AI, women are an understatement at a certain level in the world of technology and it cannot be ignored. For every 5 men there are still only One woman. And work needs to be done to bring this story into awareness and make the world change. Only an organization that has an equal number of women and men and true diversity really succeeds."
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