BMO Annual Women's Day Study

Fewer Than Half of Canadian Women Feel They've Achieved Work/Life Balance - Seite 2

Should I stay or should I go (to a new employer)?

The study also found that 63 per cent of Canadian women feel that staying with one employer over the long term (and being promoted from within) is preferable to switching employers as a way to further their careers. This may be because 74 per cent of women (and 52 per cent of men) reported that it is more challenging for women to prove themselves to a new employer than it is for men. The top challenges women identified when starting with a new employer included:

• Establishing a comfortable work/life balance (78 per cent)
• Perceptions regarding family obligations and/or maternity leave (72 per cent)

"Women need to be empowered to seek out new career opportunities if they choose to do so and not feel that they face barriers because of their gender," said Sandra Henderson, Senior Vice President, Personal & Commercial Banking, BMO Bank of Montreal and Member of the BMO Women and Wealth Committee. "While it's possible to have a successful 'one employer' career, the reality of the modern employment landscape is that it's often necessary to make moves to get promoted and secure more compensation."

When asked about what would prompt them to change employers, the top reasons women reported included:

• Poor management/bad boss (57 per cent)
• Insufficient compensation (54 per cent)
• Poor work/life balance (42 per cent)

The survey was conducted by Pollara with an online sample of 1002 Canadians 18 years of age and over, between February 20^th and 23^rd, 2015. A probability sample of 1,002 would yield results accurate to ± 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Results have been weighted using the latest census data to be representative of Canadians as a whole.

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About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services organization based in North America. The bank offers a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers. BMO Financial Group had total assets of approximately $672 billion and more than 47,000 employees at January 31, 2015.

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