These are eyeopening figures.

According to a new survey conducted by recruitment site Indeed, as many as 40 percent of women has onsidered quitting their job in the last 12 months, with many citing the reason for this being “burn out and the pressures of family life." To conduct their research, Indeed surveyed 1,001 women who transitioned from full-time employment to gig work, contract work, part-time work or exited the workforce after the onset of the pandemic. The job site wanted to gain an understanding of how working women have been affected by the continual effects of Covid-19. And – unsurprisinlgy –the researchers found that women are increasingly opting for opportunities that guarantee flexibility over stability.

The survey, published last week just ahead of International Women’s Day, found burn out was the most common reason (33 per cent) cited for considering leaving a job, particularly for women in older age cohorts - where as many as 55 percent fof those questioned said they felt they needed a break.

The second highest reason cited (22 percent) according to most women was that it had become too hard to balance work and home responsibilities.

Trying to find something resemebling work-life balance was an issue felt most deeply by women aged 35-44, in other words, an age group most likely to have young children. In fact, as many as 37 percent in this cohort admitted they simply find juggling career and family responsibilities too difficult.

Unequal pay and lack of support

While gender pay gaps are showing positive signs of closing in many industries, the fact is that many women are still paid less than their male counterparts.

Accroding to the survey, as many as 30 percent of female respondents felt the men were generally paid more at their company, compared to just 17 percent of male respondents.

However, one good news was that the resarch also found that women admitted to feeling more optimistic than men about their future earnings, with 82 percent of women surveyed saying they expect to be earning more in five years’ time, a view shared by just 71 percentof the men surveyed.

“The findings are a reminder of the specific challenges women still face in the workplace," Glenda Kirby, vice president of client success at Indeed, said about the findings.

"Particularly striking are the high numbers of women considering leaving the workforce due to lack of support, which emphasises how vital it is for employers to do more to create a working environment that is supportive."

She added:

“The research highlights how important it is for women to hear their employer advocating for female career development and making sure discrimination is called out and addressed. Having a seat at the table isn’t enough if workers don’t feel like they belong there."

How work changed for women during the pandemic

For many women, especially those in caregiving roles and for many raising young famlies, flexibility is not only a commodity but a necessity. On average, Forbes report that the women who responded to the survey admitted that increased childcare and/or caregiving was a significant obstacle to full-time work, and said they took on six additional hours of caregiving per day since the start of the pandemic. About 24 percent of women said that their childcare workload had not returned to the pre-pandemic baseline. And of the same group of women, those who indicated they were married and/or in a domestic partnership, a whopping 89 percent stated that their partner did not have to make any changes to their work circumstances that were not organization wide. And manybe as a sirect result of this, the report also showed that women were experiencing the mental health strain on a bigger scale than men, with 54 percent of women stating that feelings, such as anxiety, burnout and fatigue, associated with their full-time job were too overwhelming to justify continuing to work under the same conditions.