Employment rights of women in the post pandemic world: challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Purpose: The Covid-19 brought many substantial impacts on labour markets and the workforce. The pandemic disproportionally affected the women workers in terms of business, health, education and employment. The need to promote and address the employment rights of women has emerged in the post pandemic world of work. Thus, the study intends to analyze the challenges and opportunities for female workers in the post pandemic world. Design/methodology/approach: A sample of 120 working women was drawn using convenience sampling method. The research approach used was Inductivism. Overall, the research study was qualitative in nature. Survey strategy was used to conduct the research with the survey instrument being phone call interviews. The data collected from the interviewees was analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: The pandemic significantly had the effects on female workers in losing jobs than men as they are the co-players at household tasks and taking care of children. On the other hand, the study finds the pandemic has paved some innovative paths for women through new types of employments such as remote and online jobs which created new opportunities for them to work from home, to earn and to use their capabilities. Research implications: The post pandemic has created immense of female youtubers whereas the home makers have become the earners through the innovative and entertaining videos. Thus, the results will offer insight for the researchers and policymakers to understand the nature of women empowerment from the post pandemic which is a new revolution in terms of employment opportunities for women and it has somehow empowered the women to fulfill their dreams to earn and maintain the work-life balance in a possible way. Research Limitation: This study eliminated unemployed women. For future studies, researchers may consider employed and unemployed women to get a deep insight of the findings and its generalizability. Originality / Value: The findings of this study would help policy makers to take necessary steps in planning women empowerment strategies to promote the nations.