New Survey Reveals What Shrinks the Gender Gap for Working Women

A July 2022 Great Place To Work® market research survey of nearly 4,200 workers found:

• More than half of women (54%) are open to leaving their jobs in the next six months
• One in 10 women want to leave their job, but don’t feel they can
• Only 45% of women report fair pay (56% for men)
• Only 45% report fair promotions (53% for men)

The gender gap, however, disappears across nearly every measure of the employee experience for workers at the Fortune Best Workplaces for Women™ in 2022. At these companies:

• 90% of women plan to stay in their job long-term
• 92% of women report a willingness to “give extra” at work
• 81% say they are paid fairly, with no significant difference to male colleagues
• 83% report fair promotions (again, no difference to men)

“We see gender gaps decrease at great companies because they’re creating great cultures for all employees,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work, the global authority on workplace culture.

“The good news is any company can create cultures that support women and help them thrive, regardless of whether they are in the executive suite or the frontline, whether they are boomers or Gen Z, African American or Asian American, or any specific demographic groups and related intersections,” he says. “But it takes consistent and dedicated work.”

Who Made the List

The list ranked 100 large companies (1,000 employees or more) and 25 small and medium-sized companies (10-999 employees).

The Top Five Large Companies for 2022 are:

1. Hilton
2. Pinnacle Financial Partners
3. Cisco
4. American Express
5. Comcast NBCUniversal

The Top Five Small and Medium-sized Companies for 2022 are:

1. Greenhouse
2. Highlight Technologies, Inc.
3. Roth Staffing Companies, L.P.
4. PMG
5. Bitwise Industries

What Women Want From Employers

Great Place To Work research reveals four actions that are essential for creating nurturing workplaces that hold onto top women employees. The four actions are:

1. At a minimum, offer fair pay and promotions.
2. Create a psychologically healthy culture.
3. Help employees find meaning in their work.
4. Be flexible with remote/hybrid options.

Great Place To Work® selected the Fortune Best Workplaces for Women™ in 2022 List based on feedback collected from nearly 1.2 million employee responses, of which 640,000 were from women at qualifying Great Place to Work Certified™ organizations in the United States. To be considered for the list, companies must employ at least 50 women, 20% of non-executive managers must be women, and at least one C-suite executive must be a woman. Company rankings are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place To Work Trust Index™ Survey. Read the full methodology to learn more.