Global telecoms operator Vodafone has launched two initiatives to increase opportunities for women in the workplace and enhance life prospects for women in emerging markets.
The Vodafone ReConnect programme is designed to attract talented women who left the workplace for several years ? in most cases to raise a family ? who would like to return to work on a full-time or flexible basis but are struggling to make the professional connections needed or refresh their skills.
The programme will operate across 26 countries, including SA, with a target of 1 000 ReConnect recruits within three years. Vodafone owns 65% of SA-based Vodacom and 40% of Kenya's Safaricom.
Vodafone says it is committed to increasing the proportion of women in management and leadership roles, and under the programme, up to 500 women on career breaks will be recruited into management roles. This will account for around 10% of all Vodafone external management hires over the three-year period. Vodafone will recruit a further 500 women on career breaks into a range of frontline roles.
Economic research from KPMG, commissioned by Vodafone, indicates there are an estimated 96 million skilled women aged 30-54 on career breaks worldwide, of whom an estimated 55 million have experience at middle-manager level and above.
According to the research, if all such women worldwide were able to secure manager-level employment - and their recruitment did not displace other employees - the associated value of the additional economic activity generated could be around £151 billion (R2.4 trillion) per year; and the cumulative financial boost for those women's households could be £419 billion (R6.6 trillion) a year.
"We are committed to ensuring our employees are drawn from diverse communities and societies. Our ambition to be one of the best employers for women in the world is central to that commitment," says Vodafone group CEO Vittorio Colao.
"Companies often struggle to recruit and retain women in management and leadership roles. Innovations such as our global maternity policy and now our new ReConnect programme can make a real difference to women who work for us today and who will work for us in the future," Colao adds.
The maternity policy, introduced in 2015, offers women at least 16 weeks fully paid maternity leave, as well as full pay for a 30-hour week for the first six months after their return to work.
Targeting gender gaps
Vodafone also announced a range of new commercial initiatives designed to help women in low-income and remote communities in emerging markets - particularly in India and Africa - benefit from mobile.
"When you put a mobile phone in a woman's hand for the first time, you change her life forever. Mobile enables women to learn about the world around them, build a business, help educate themselves and their children, get access to healthcare advice and support, and achieve financial security in countries with limited conventional banking services," says Vodafone group chief commercial operations and strategy officer Serpil Timuray.
Vodafone says women in emerging market economies are, on average, 14% less likely than men to own a mobile phone; a mobile gender gap which is far greater than that in countries in the developed world. The group intends to bring mobile to an additional 50 million women by 2025.
Its M-Pesa mobile money service - launched 10 years ago this month - is already used by more than 11 million women in 10 countries.
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