Sweden top European country for women to work in 2023

Britain in joint 12th place with Germany, with Turkey bottom of the pile

Scandinavian countries took the first three places in Reboot Online’s analysis of which European countries offer the best prospects for female professionals.

Sweden was the best place for women to work, followed by Finland and Norway.

For International Women’s Day (8 March) Reboot Online evaluated a variety of factors such as economic and leadership role opportunities, creating a pointsbased index with a top score of

300 points. Sweden scored 241.4 points.

The UK ranks in 12th place (the same as Germany) with 165.5 points. The study found that the UK has the highest number of women in leadership positions of all the European countries studied, taking into account wage equality for similar work and estimated income –that’s 317 active duty leadership positions in 2022. As a result, it scored 100 points in the index.

However, researchers said it is disappointing that the UK only has 11.6 paid full weeks of maternity leave, which equals a score of 6.9/100 for this category.

In last place is Turkey, scoring 31 points out of 300. Despite its poor performance, the country has surprisingly earned more points for women in leadership (27.6/100) than countries known to champion gender equality, such as Austria (13.8/100 points).

For more about Reboot Online go to https://www.rebootonline. com/

KAREN’S RESPONSE

Building a strong professional network is one of the most important things an accountant can do, especially if you are at the beginning of your career. What I mean by a strong network is one that is comprised of a diverse range of people from different walks of life and with varying degrees of experience.

For example, someone who has been an accountant for many years will have invaluable wisdom and problem-solving skills that you can learn from to inform your own career. As well as this, connecting with a professional who has just started out but previously worked in a completely different industry can bring their unique insights and perspectives to the table.

To effectively expand your network, I suggest you attend industry events, utilise social media platforms such as LinkedIn where you can join professional groups, join online forums and interact meaningfully with your peers and colleagues. Since so much communication happens digitally today, optimise your social profiles so that they are up to date and present you as approachable. Whilst networking successfully takes time and effort, it is well worth it.

Consider what it is specifically you want to get out of networking and adjust your goals accordingly. Overall, building a strong network will enable you to enhance your interpersonal skills, increase your visibility, gain first-hand knowledge and discover new opportunities.

• Karen Young is a director at Hays. She is passionate about helping people to find the right job and companies the right person

In brief

The female entrepreneur has arrived

Women founded more than 150,000 new companies last year despite the challenging economic environment. The resilience of female entrepreneurs is underlined by data that shows that female founders started more firms in 2022 than ever before. The figures are published in the Rose Review Progress Report 2023, which sets fresh goals to provide record levels of support for female entrepreneurs and drive up the numbers of female angel investors.

The Review illustrates the advances made since it was launched in 2019. More than twice as many companies led by women were created last year as in 2018.

Check out the review at https://tinyurl.com/yhahpysm

The £18bn corporation tax hike

The UK’s business community will be under pressure to find an extra £18bn a year of corporation tax payments by 2025/26, following a 31.58% proportionate increase in the Corporation Tax rate due to take effect in April.

Corporation tax, currently 19%, will rise to 25% on 1 April 2023 and will raise an estimated additional £12bn in the first year, rising to £18bn by 2025/26. UK businesses currently contribute around £68bn in corporation tax a year, equating to 2.9% of UK GDP.

Accounts correction

Insurer Beazley has been forced to republish its balance sheet after the Financial Times found a big error in its annual report. Journalists found that Beazley had overstated the value of its ‘net assets per share’ – so instead of them being 420.8c. they were actually 386.7c.

The problem is the company used this measure as a central performance indicator and top executives’ rewards were based on it!

The PQ Book Club: books you should read

The Negotiation Book: Your Definitive guide to successful negotiating, by Steve Gates (Capstone, £14.99)

As author Steve Gates explains, negotiation is fundamental part of your life and has a big impact on those around you. So, the better you get at it better it will be for you, your family and your business. Remember, being good at it means you can solve something as trivial as resolving bedtime tantrums with children or as important as delivering peace during a war!

Gates believes many great negotiations go unnoticed, so this is not the place for you if you want recognition and gratification. He says: “Negotiations are not interested in winning and glory.” What you will need to succeed is a patience and a tenacity that is motivated by curiosity rather than competitiveness.

He stresses that negotiation is very different to selling, and the major difference is listening.

A big worry for some is the fact that there are no rules when it comes to negotiations. But there are limits, as total empowerment leads to exposure and risk. Gates also emphasises that price isn’t everything, either. You have to measure the total value of any negotiated deal.

The world of virtual negotiating has also arrived. The communication here is different and there are subtle changes in how these meetings go. Discussions tend to be more linear – your turn, now my turn, who will summarise? It is harder too to build trust in the virtual world.

PQ rating 5/5 There is an art to negotiation and in his third edition Gates ensures you don’t have to believe in the dark arts to become a good negotiator. Like all things a bit of prep and planning goes a long way.