Work-life balance in the ICT sector : an opportunity and a way forward.
Date: 2019-06-21
Institutions: European Institute for Gender Equality
Subjects: female worker, gender equality, information technology industry, information technology profession, work-life balance, working conditions, working environment

Work-life balance in the ICT  
sector: An opportunity and  
a way forward

European Institute 
for Gender Equality

90 % of ICT professionals say they appreciate their working 
time arrangements. 

Our  good  practices  highlight  some  of  the  most  effective 
work-life balance measures ICT companies are implementing 
across  the  EU.  These  measures  have  resulted  in  increased 
recruitment and retention of women ICT professionals, which 
has  allowed  companies  to  tap  into  a  larger  talent  pool  and 
reduced costs arising from high staff-turnover, lost productivity 
due to absenteeism, and loss of highly qualified staff due to an 
inability to combine work and care responsibilities.

Achieving  gender  equality  in  the  ICT  sector  would  also 
increase  the  EU’s  competitiveness.  Getting  more  women 
into  Science,  Technology,  Engineering  and  Mathematics 
(STEM)  subjects,  which  are  usually  needed  for  a  career  in 
ICT, could boost the EU’s GDP by € 820 billion by 2050. 

Photo: Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com

Currently,  only  some  17%  of  ICT  professionals  in  the  EU 
are women. This despite the fact that the sector frequently 
offers a favourable approach to work-life balance – almost 

EIGE  has  developed  a  6-step  approach  to  help  ICT 
companies integrate work-life balance measures into their 
organisations and get more women on board.

A 6-step approach:

1. 

Identify national work-life balance initiatives and partners 

2. 

Identify potential resistance and develop solutions

3.  Maximise buy-in from stakeholders 

4.  Design a solid implementation plan 

5.  Carefully measure progress

6.  Highlight benefits and celebrate early wins

Improving  work-life  balance  for  all  employees,  as  well  as 
offering special support to working parents and carers, can 
be done in a variety of ways. The initiatives that companies 
can  offer  range  from  one-off  events  to 
longer-term 
programmes.  Some  require  minimal  time  and  financial 
investment from employers, while others require significant 
investment. 

Our business case contains practical steps that organisations 
can take to introduce work-life balance measures. We have 
also  created  a  check-list  that  ICT  sector  employers  can 
follow to verify they have taken the necessary steps to build 
an  organisation  that  provides  employees  with  work-life 
balance options. 

EIGE’s project has collected examples of good 
practices implemented by ICT companies to 
improve work-life balance in the ICT sector, 
as  well  as  campaigns  to  get  more  women 
into  ICT.  These  aim  to  make  ICT  jobs  more 
attractive to girls and women. 

Good practices: work-life balance in ICT 

Finland - Equality and diversity are 
cornerstones at Netlight

Netlight is a medium-sized IT company operating in seven 
countries.  It  is  highly  committed  to  equality  and  diversity. 

All  Netlight  partners  sign  the  company’s  Declaration  of 
Equality and an equality clause is included in all agreements 
signed by the company. In order to strengthen equality and 
women’s  role  in  the  organisation,  the  company  launched 
an  initiative  called  Vostok  in  2012,  named  it  in  honour  of 

the  spaceflight  that  carried  the  first  woman  into  space 
in  1963.  Vostok  includes  activities,  such  as  Code  Pub  and 
Tech  EQ,  which  aim  to  build  networks  between  women 
in  the  ICT  sector.  Netlight  also  invests  in  recruiting  new 
talent  and  maintains  a  strong  gender  focus  throughout 
the  recruitment  process.  Apart  from  enhancing  diversity 
and  productivity,  Netlight’s  ability  to  recruit  women  is 
considered crucial to the company’s future. Between 2013 
and 2014, Netlight increased the number of women recruits 
by 60%.  

Austria - Innovative practices at Kapsch 
Group: how to attract women to the 
workplace — and keep them there

The Kapsch Group is a company operating worldwide, with 
its  headquarters  in  Austria.  As  part  of  its  good-employer 

policy,  the  company  offers  employees  a  number  of 
measures to help reconcile their professional and personal 
life, such as flexible working hours, the possibility to work 
from  home,  a  ‘family  room’  on  the  company  premises, 
different  retirement  models,  and  opportunities  for  part-
time work. A number of activities are organised to ensure 
employees of either gender who are on parental leave can 
stay in the company and return to work easily. 

Some ICT companies do offer a variety of generous work-
life  measures  for  their  employees,  but  this  is  not  true  for 
the  majority  of  employers.  The  prevalence  of  a  working 
culture  characterised  by  long  working  hours  and  unequal 
opportunities  for  training  result  in  a  lack  of  diversity  and 
inclusiveness  for  women.  Conscious  effort  is  needed  on 
behalf  of  employers,  business  associations  and  other 
partners  in  order  to  transform  workplaces  and  attract 
highly skilled women into the sector.

ABOUT THE STUDY

Institute 

for  Gender  Equality 

The  European 
(EIGE) 
commissioned the study ‘Supporting work life balance and 
addressing  women’s  underrepresentation  in  the  labour 
market: approaches and good practices in ICT sector’. The 
aim was to identify, collect and select the most promising 
examples of both workplace work-life balance initiatives, as 

well  as  campaigns  and  projects  promoting  ICT  and  STEM 
skills  and  professions  among  women  and  girls.  The  study 
was  carried  out  by  the  WorkLife  HUB  and  supported  by  a 
network of country experts in the 28 Member States. Further 
information related to the study is available at: http://eige.
europa.eu/good-practices

European Institute for Gender Equality, EIGE

Contact details

The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) is the EU knowledge cen-
tre  on  gender  equality.  EIGE  supports  policymakers  and  all  relevant  insti-
tutions in their efforts to make equality between women and men a reality 
for all Europeans by providing them with specific expertise and comparable 
and reliable data on gender equality in Europe.  

© European Institute for Gender Equality, EIGE
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

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European Institute for Gender Equality, EIGE
Gedimino pr. 16 
LT-01103 Vilnius 
LITHUANIA 

Paper: MH-04-19-395-EN-C 978-92-9482-301-4 doi:10.2839/282544

PDF: MH-04-19-395-EN-N 978-92-9482-302-1 doi:10.2839/95688