What helps women thrive at work
Organizations around the world mark International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month by recognizing the achievements and contributions of women in the workplace. Mercer’s Global Talent Trends research offers another lens on this conversation: what helps women thrive at work and how those priorities differ from those of men.
The findings reveal clear differences in several aspects of the workplace experience. Women place greater emphasis on work–life balance, flexible working, career visibility, opportunities to build new skills, and supportive leadership. These insights provide an important signal for leaders redesigning work and shaping the employee value proposition in an AI-powered future.
At the same time, thriving at work is declining overall. The proportion of employees who say they are thriving has fallen from 66% in 2024 to 44% in 2026. Thriving employees drive productivity, innovation, and resilience, making it increasingly important for organizations to understand the conditions that enable people to succeed.
International Women’s Day provides a useful moment to reflect on how workplace structures support women’s careers and long-term participation in the workforce — and what these insights may reveal about building more adaptable workforces for the future.
Key factors shaping women’s experience at work
Work–life balance and flexibility
Work–life balance shows the largest difference in the data.
of women say maintaining a healthy work–life balance helps them thrive
of men report the same priority
Flexible work arrangements show a similar pattern.
of women say the ability to choose when and where they work supports thriving
of men say flexibility plays this role
Learning opportunities and career visibility
Women also place greater emphasis on opportunities to build skills and develop their careers.
of women say opportunities to learn new skills help them thrive
of men say the same
Career clarity follows a similar pattern.
of women say a clear career path supports thriving
of men identify this as important
Rethinking the employee value proposition (EVP)
These insights also have implications for how organizations design the EVP. Mercer’s Global Talent Trends research shows that priorities can vary significantly across the workforce.
For women, thriving is closely linked to flexibility, career visibility, skills development, and supportive leadership. When organizations align their EVP with these priorities, they are more likely to see stronger engagement, retention, and workforce participation.
Recalibrating the value exchange between employers and employees helps organizations create workplaces where women can build sustainable careers, while also supporting growth and productivity.
Reinventing work for a skills-powered future
Mercer’s Global Talent Trends research identifies reinventing for a human advantage as a defining leadership priority. Organizations are moving beyond isolated technology adoption toward more intentional redesign of work. In this new future of work, skills rather than job titles are becoming the currency of the workplace.
Organizations must enable employees to move from sunset skills — capabilities declining in demand — to sunrise skills that support emerging roles. Building strong foundations of evergreen skills such as learning agility, collaboration, and problem-solving will also become critical.
Yet many organizations are not fully prepared for this transition. Only half of C-suite leaders believe they are investing enough today to close the skills gaps they expect to face tomorrow. Traditional talent models built around fixed roles and static job descriptions are increasingly out of step with how work is evolving.
Forward-looking organizations are beginning to adopt skills-powered talent practices, focusing on understanding the capabilities employees possess today and creating pathways for continuous development. Dynamic talent models allow people to move more easily between projects and roles as business needs change.
Implications for women’s careers in the AI era
As these shifts unfold, access to learning opportunities and AI tools will become increasingly important. Mercer’s research shows that employees are already concerned about unequal access to AI training and technology. Ensuring that opportunities to develop new skills are widely available across the workforce will be critical to sustaining engagement and productivity.
For organizations seeking to build future-ready workforces, these insights also reinforce the importance of the factors many women highlight as helping them thrive.
The strong emphasis women place on learning opportunities and career visibility suggests that many may already be focused on the capabilities organizations increasingly need.
In a world where skills mobility increasingly defines career progression, these capabilities may prove especially valuable.
As organizations redesign work for the AI era, the capabilities that help people thrive today are becoming central to future workforce success.
On International Women’s Day, Mercer’s Global Talent Trends research highlights an important insight: the factors many women say help them thrive at work align closely with the capabilities organizations need to build more adaptable and future-ready workforces.