Mercer Ireland Women at Work Survey Results 2023 

Over half of Irish organisations surveyed by Mercer in May 2023 have a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy with a strong focus on women. Having a strategy is overwhelmingly seen, by 88% of respondents, as producing positive results. This is one of the key findings of Mercer’s Republic of Ireland Women at Work Survey 2023.

The Women at Work survey, which had 35 participating employers across nine industries, enables employers to see and understand the measures being taken by others towards attracting, retaining and helping women to thrive at work.

These steps include policies around hiring, creation of a welcoming environment, career progression, workplace flexibility, pay equity and parental and leave policies.

It is notable that many measures which are prevalent are not regarded as all that effective – whereas some measures which are deployed by only a small minority of employers are regarded by them as highly effective. For example, DEI strategy specifically focused on women – has the highest reported success rate in terms of creating a positive work environment for women.

Conversely, both external diversity certification and partnerships with external DEI organisations realize low participation rates but high success rankings for those who leverage these practices.

Access the executive summary slide deck to understand what Irish employers are doing currently and what they intend to do in the future to improve the experience of their female employees