Women better placed to cope with recession?

Women are weathering the economic storm better than men because they are more adaptable to change, it is being claimed.

Figures from The Office for National Statistics have revealed the female of the speices is faring significantly better during the economic downturn.

In the final quarter of 2008, the rate for redundancy among men escalated at more than double that of women.

Experts say the main explanation for the phenomenon is the tendency for women to work in areas such as healthcare, education and the public sector - areas less sharply affected by the downturn.

Business consultant, Julia Payne says the dominance of women in these sectors has a big influence on the figures.

Employment consultant Julia, of Julia Payne Associates, says women possess key qualities essential for surviving the recession that employers are looking for.

Julia said: "Women are used to juggling families and careers so multi-tasking and working to a schedule comes as second nature.

"They understand the need for a clear process and how to make every minute count moving swiftly from one task to another which makes them fantastic at implementation.

"They also possess a high level of empathy which makes them very good at delegating and better in team situations.

"These are all attributes which employers need when trying to keep their businesses afloat.

"Men often concern themselves with job titles and with what others are doing rather than focusing on the job at hand.

"Job losses in female-driven employment have been small in comparison to men.

"The crisis started with the collapse of the housing market and as a consequence, the male-dominated industries have suffered."

Solicitor Gina Simpson, who runs the Aegis Law firm in Merseyside, said many women posess talents that are in demand by employers.

Gina said: "We need to take time to listen and being sympathetic and caring in our approach is important to our clients and many women are good at that.

"Generally women have lower expectations from employment and in a recession they are more flexible when it comes to accepting things like short-time working.

"In practice it means they are better placed to adjust to the recession and are less vulnerable to redundancy."

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