Mums in Ads (MIA) has launched its jobs board featuring vacancies with full-time/part-time negotiable roles in an initiative to help keep senior women from leaving the industry.
The launch is backed by 49 Australian agencies, who have each committed to advertising all job roles as full-time/part-time negotiable, giving part-timers greater access to opportunities and career progression with the aim of supporting more women into leadership roles.
The move comes off the back of MIA’s Part-Time Pitch – a campaign inspired by Advertising Council Australia’s Create Space Census, which revealed a marked decline in women’s participation in the industry from the age of 35. The pitch deck was sent to over 200 advertising leaders from across 72 Australian agencies, starting hundreds of conversations about the important role of part-time work in retaining female talent.
As of launch, the companies who have signed on to support the initiative include: A3 Recruitment, Akcelo, Alt/Shift, Balmer Agency, Bastion, Bread, Bullfrog, By All Means, Catch The Sun, CHEP Network, Communicado, Content Hustlers, Creative Natives, Digitas, DO Agency, EDGE, Equality Media, Fenton Stephens, Hardhat, Hatched, HBK Agency, HERO, History Will Be Kind, Host/Havas, Howatson & Co, Huckleberry, Innocean, Leo Burnett, Little Village Creative, M&C Saatchi, nh&a consulting, Ortolan, Pangea, Poem, Publicis Worldwide, Reborn, R/GA, Saatchi & Saatchi, Shetouch, SDWM, Snack Drawer, Supermassive, Sunday Gravy, Taboo, TAG, TBWA, The Brand Agency, The Open Arms, The Pistol, Thinkerbell, Think HQ, VMLY&R and WhiteGREY.
Regina Stroombergen, co-founder MIA, said: “We know that, overall, women make up the majority of our industry but this figure is heavily skewed by the many women entering it, not leading it.
“With almost 70% of part-time workers being women and 77% of women being mothers, supporting women through the child-caring years with accessible and adaptable part-time work is one obvious strategy to future-proof female leadership.
“If we want to have a large talent pool of senior women, then part-time women need to be kept in the pipeline and that means allowing them the same access to job opportunities as their peers.”
Julia Spencer, co-founder MIA, said: “We’re proud to be helping move conversations about gender equity into a place of action and excited to witness our famously competitive industry coming together to make this issue a priority.”
“Beyond supporting more women into leadership roles, we believe that making space for parents will benefit everyone by pushing back on the grind culture that has been fuelling Adland’s talent drain.
“By helping to make ours an industry where everyone can be culturally and systemically supported to thrive, we are making advertising a more sustainable career for all of the awesome talent who are drawn here,” Spencer added.