Women are stressed and asked to navigate work with little clarity 

Mercer’s 2026 Inside Employees’ Minds research shows a workforce under pressure and choosing stability (workers’ likelihood to stay at their employer is up 5 points from 2023). But for women, the pressure is even higher in many areas: greater economic stress, predictability in schedules, flexibility, workloads, career progression and perceived fairness. In other words, the strain is not only about how much work women do. It is about how unpredictable work can become, how opaque pay decisions feel and how risky it is to plan a career when the rules seem to change by team, by manager or by the moment. 

That matters for senior HR and total rewards leaders because it puts the employer-employee deal at risk. When employers ensure an employee experience that is positive and rewarding, they earn employee commitment and performance and a stronger talent pipeline. We call this “give to gain.” 

Pressure point 1: Deeper concerns about economic uncertainty

This year’s IEM Survey clearly shows that the entire workforce is under a great deal of pressure from economic uncertainty. While true overall, a closer look at how women compare to men reveals that women workers are feeling the strain more acutely.  

Issues like covering monthly expenses, being able to retire and personal debt are notably more pressing for women in the IEM Study. More specifically, we see that women have greater fears about being able to afford healthcare, as just 63% say cost doesn’t limit their ability to get care, versus 80% of men. 

Compounding this direct economic pressure, women are less optimistic about the country’s economy with only about a quarter (26%) feeling it will change for the better (versus 45% of men). Similarly, only 39% of women feel their organization is on track to become more successful, versus 54% of men.  

Pressure point 2: The schedule that exists on paper is not the schedule women live

Flexibility is often framed as a policy decision. The research points to something more operational: the policy–practice gap. When staffing is thin, “flexible” becomes “figure it out.” That hits women hard because unpredictability compounds across work and life logistics. According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, the percentage of family caregivers that are women (for either children or older adults) ranges from 53% to 68%.  

This year’s data from Mercer’s IEM Study underline how much of the employee experience is determined by whether time off and schedule control are usable, not theoretical. While 79% of women (6 points lower than men) say they are able to take the time off to which they are entitled, the real pressure shows up when coverage and local norms make that entitlement hard to use. Predictable schedules and dependable time off are tightly linked to well-being, especially in frontline settings where coverage mechanics decide whether PTO can actually happen. Overall, women are 11 points lower than men in satisfaction with flexible and remote work arrangements. 

Give to gain. Treat schedule stability as a business control, not an accommodation. Set coverage standards, publish how shifts and “must be on-site” moments are assigned and audit where PTO requests are routinely blocked. This can reduce burnout risk and boost retention in roles that feed leadership pipelines. 

Pressure point 3: Workloads are rising and women often pay the price

The research signals operating pressure from uneven hiring and selective backfilling that leaves some teams lean longer. Employees feel it directly: 24% say their workload has increased because their employer hired fewer workers or laid off employees. In that environment, women often absorb work that is invisible in capacity models: coordination, onboarding, smoothing conflict and filling gaps when processes break. Women are 12 points behind men in believing the workload their organization expects from them is reasonable.  

That is pressure most organizations do not measure. It is also pressure that slows progression because it steals time from the work that gets rewarded. 

Give to gain. Reprice workload, not just roles. Require teams to name and track recurring “glue work” and rotate it. Pair AI rollout plans with workload safeguards and sequencing so that pilot testing new technologies and processes does not end up creating a second job. The gain is improved productivity without sacrificing women’s ability to effectively manage their work and life. 

Pressure point 4: Pay transparency is rising but “perceived fairness” is the real retention lever

Pay remains table stakes, yet the emphasis has shifted from “more” to “enough and fair.” Employees are also entering a new transparency reality: 48% of women say they will not apply for a role if compensation information is not available in the job posting. Inside organizations, 66% of women say their employer provides the pay range associated with their role and 63% of women say they understand how compensation is determined (10 and 7 points below men respectively). Further, only 62% of women feel they are compensated fairly (13 points below men). 

Here is the underdiscussed risk for women: transparency without explanation can amplify perceived unfairness. Only 51% of women say their manager takes time to explain how compensation is determined. Meanwhile, pay sharing is common: 43% of women say colleagues share compensation information. When people compare notes and managers cannot explain decisions, women are more likely to experience the gap as unfairness in pay and progression. 

Give to gain. Make manager pay conversations a required capability, not a nice-to-have. Publish ranges, then standardize the “why” behind offers, increases and progression. The gain is trust, reduced rumor-driven attrition and a stronger case for women to stay and compete for next roles. 

Pressure point 5: Progression feels conditional when it’s not clear what skills are needed and change is constant

Employees want to stay, but they want to know what staying leads to. Less than two-thirds of women say they can meet their career goals within their current organization. A similar number report receiving information from their manager or organization on internal mobility. Yet, confidence about what it takes to progress is slipping: 79% of women say they understand what skills they need to progress, down 10 points since 2023. 

For women already watching fairness and predictability, unclear skills signals are not neutral. They raise the cost of risk-taking and make “stretch” assignments feel like a gamble rather than a pathway. 

Give to gain. Put progression into plain language: role-to-skill maps, examples of moves that actually happen and protected time to build skills. The gain is faster internal mobility and a more durable leadership pipeline.